Forgotten Chronicles
by Schwarz Tiger
Summary: A collection of abandoned stories and ideas that never reached completion. Free game to anyone who wants them/is inspired by them.
1. Demon Dog King Uzumaki Naruto

Everything was peaceful in Tanzaku Town. The birds were singing, people were getting about with their daily lives, and a blond-haired boy with dog ears was running around excitedly, while being chased by an angry catgirl.

… Okay, so maybe it wasn't particularly peaceful. So what? It could be worse. There could have been an S-Rank Ninja with a liking for snakes and young boys with bloodlines trashing their greatest tourist attraction. Just be grateful for what you get.

"Kanade! Look!" Said dogboy was yelling happily. "There are so many different stores around! Hey, what does this one sell? And look, this one has ninja equipment! That's so cool!" The blond continued to run around rapidly, trying to look at everything.

"Uh, Naruto-sama, you probably shouldn't be running around so much," Kanade tried to warn the boy, to no avail, as he soon tripped and fell, hitting the ground hard.

"Owwwwwwww," Naruto groaned as he lifted himself back up. "So, Kanade, where are headed next?" He asked the catgirl.

The black-haired girl sighed. "Naruto-sama, I already told you, we're going to Konoha, but we're staying here for the night, so we can visit whatever you want to see here," She reminded him tiredly, the stress of looking after her young lord beginning to catch up with her.

Well, in that case..." The blond's eyes lit up. "We just have to go see the casinos, and according to the brochure, they have some fine sake in a certain bar only a few streets from here, and we definitely need to go see the castle at the top of the hill, I heard that it's haunted..." The dogboy trailed off as the catgirl shivered.

"You mean, l-like g-g-ghosts?" Kanade trembled just thinking about the idea of seeing a deceased spirit.

"Well of course! How would it be haunted if it didn't have ghosts? C'mon Kanade, use your head," Any further talking was interrupted by Naruto's stomach growling. "But first, food!"

Naruto quickly dragged the quivering Kanade into the nearest food stand, and she soon calmed down enough to order them some dango and ramen.

Naruto began to eat with gusto. "Wow! So sweet! And these noodles are simply delicious! What incredible wonders the outside world holds!" As she heard the blond say this, Kanade's mood turned sour.

"Naruto-sama, are you sure you're okay? After all, you were just banished by your clan and thrown out all alone," The catgirl questioned the blond dogboy.

"Well, it isn't so bad. I mean, I get to see all sorts of things I never could otherwise. And besides, I'm not alone. I've still got you," Naruto grinned happily, and Kanade couldn't help but smile along with him.

-Scene Breaker-

There wasn't anything remarkable about Shou. He was your typical low-ranking thug. Shaved head, plain face, and not too bright. Nonetheless, this unremarkable gangster has quite the bad luck today. First, he was punished for being late, and then his girlfriend dumped him to pursue the boss. All in all, a rough day. Little did Shou know, as he walked towards his favourite restaurant with two of his mates in a horrible mood, that his bad day was about to get even worse.

"Hey, Old Man!" Shou shouted to the shopkeeper as he pushed open the flaps. "We'd like six bottles of your finest sake, and three pork ramen bowls. And we won't be paying. If you have a complaint, take it up with our boss." He grinned savagely as the old man gulped.

Suddenly a blond-haired boy in a white and red robe stood up and began walking over to them. "How dare you..." The blond glared at them, anger burning in his eyes.

"Think you're a tough guy, huh? We'll show you what happens to shitty brats like you!" One of the gangsters lunged at the young blond.

Without even bothering to look, Naruto backhanded the thug straight through the flaps. He then immediately dashed at the other thug and delivered a hard elbow into his stomach, causing him to fall to the ground, blood leaking out of his mouth.

"W-W-Who the hell are you?" Shou stammered in fear as he watched his friends decimated in a matter of seconds.

Naruto ignored his question in favour of punching him across the face, sending him spiralling into the wall.

"Abusing power to take what rightfully belongs to someone else? How despicable. You lowly worm." Naruto spat at the unconscious man.

_'Did you really have to go start a fight now? And without even knowing who they were. You idiot!'_ Kanade thought angrily. "Naruto-sama, I believe it is time for us to go see the castle. We should be going." She grabbed the dogboy by the arm and dragged him away.

"But Kanade, I didn't get to finish eating!" Naruto whined as he was dragged out of the shop.

-Scene Breaker-

"Repeat what you just said," A cold voice spoke out to the thug with a trickle of blood visible on his chin.

"I-I s-s-said th-that some b-b-blond k-kid beat u-us up at H-H-Hanataro's p-place," The thug stammered out, eyes widening in fear as the shadowy man stood up.

"Hehehe. How interesting. Well then, I'd better teach this kid a lesson about why you don't question my authority," The man cracked his knuckles. "After all, no one gets away with messing with a subordinate of Executing Axe Shinichiro!"

-Scene Breaker-

"Man, that castle was totally lame! No ghosts or zombies or anything exciting at all!" Naruto complained as he collapsed onto the floor at the inn.

"I, for one, thought it was quite interesting. And the lack of anything undead was much appreciated." Kanade returned as she collapsed on the bed. Looking around, she noticed something strange. "Um, Naruto-sama, I can't help but notice there is only one bed in the room."

"Ah, that's okay. I'll just sleep on the floor!" The dogboy declared.

"Naruto-sama, I couldn't possibly sleep on the bed while you were on the floor. You take the bed," The catgirl insisted as she stood up.

"No way! You're a lady! As a noble, I simply cannot allow you sleep on the ground!" Naruto exclaimed, also standing up.

"But Naruto-sama, you are my lord! To allow you to sleep on the ground would be a complete failure of my duties!" Kanade shot back at the dog.

"Well, I guess there's only one way to resolve this. We're going to have to..." The blond's face turned bright red. "We're going to have to share the bed!" Hearing that, Kanade felt her own face heating up as well.

_'Sharing a bed with my lord! Such a thing is highly inappropriate. Even though he is quite handsom- No! Bad Kanade! Don't have those thoughts!'_ Kanade, though quite embarrassed, accepted that it was the only action to be taken, and soon the two found themselves on opposite ends of the bed.

"Sorry. This is my fault." Naruto apologised as he got comfortable.

"Do not worry about it, Naruto-sama. Though I trust that you will not make any inappropriate movements during the night, correct?"Kanade replied with a frightening tone at the end.

"Uh, yeah, of course!" Naruto managed to get out. _'Man, she is scary. But, then, she can also be really nice. Boy, am I glad she chose to help me.'_

-Scene Breaker-

Naruto awoke to the feeling of a warm body against him, and a pair of fairly large breasts pressing into his back. The blond's face gained a large blush, even as he realised she would be very angry when she woke up. Speaking of which, guess who just started stirring into consciousness.

"Ugh. Oh, good morning, Naruto-sama!" Kanade chirped as she pushed herself against him.

_'Does she realise that I can feel-'_

"So, like what you feel? You little perv" The sly catgirl asked, clearly grinning even though the dogboy couldn't see it.

"I-It's not my fault!" Said dogboy managed to stutter out, trying desperately to pretend there was nothing pressing against his back. It didn't work.

"Relax, Naruto-sama. I'm just teasing." _'Geez, what's gotten into me? I shouldn't be treating my lord like that!'_

"Well, I'd say we should pack our bags and get a move on. Adventure awaits!" The blond dogboy excitedly declared.

"There isn't really going to be any adventure, so please don't go getting your hopes up, Naruto-sama," The black-haired girl attempted to let him down gently. Of course, the words fell on deaf ears.

"Alright! Record packing time! 12.42 seconds!" Naruto shouted out to the world.

They had just put on their backpacks when they heard a scream coming from the reception area. Quickly rushing downstairs, the sight that met them was that of a spiky orange haired man holding a giant axe above his head, about to bring it down on the reception lady.

"**Materialize: Caladbolg" **Acting quickly, Naruto rushed forwards while using magic call out his sword, Caladbolg. The blade was a light purple in colour, quite large and shaped a little oddly**(Basically, Kanata's first sword in Trinity Universe)**. Getting in between the axe-wielding man and his intended target, Naruto raised Caladbolg and blocked the blow.

"You must be the brat that attacked my men. Then allow me to introduce myself!" Jumping back and slamming his axe into the ground, the man shouted "I am Executing Axe Shinichiro, the man who has killed 246 men! And you'll make 247!"

Dashing forward, Shinichiro swung his axe, and as Naruto prepared his sword to guard, the axeman's arm shot forward with a hard fist, the punch sending Naruto flying straight through the doors and into the building opposite.

The green kimono-clad catgirl yelled a warning to Naruto. "This guy must be the boss of those thugs you beat up yesterday! Be careful!"

Naruto threw the rubble off of him and stood up. "Not bad, Ningen. However... **Wave!**" The dogboy yelled, swinging Caladbolg through the air as a slash of light emerged from the sword, heading towards Shinichiro and cutting one of his axe blades off. He then dashed forwards and delivered a devastating spin kick to the Gang Boss' jaw.

"Where the hell did he go?" Shinichiro growled out once his vision stopped blurring. Naruto was nowhere to be seen.

"Up here, Bozo!" Came a shout from the top of the inn. Looking up, Shinichiro saw the blond dogboy standing on the roof. "You don't stand a chance against me. This time, I'll be the one doing introductions," Pausing a moment to spin his sword, he continued. "I am the Demon Dog King, Uzumaki Naruto!" Having made his declaration, Naruto jumped from the roof. **"DDK DAIGUREN!"**** (Demon Dog King Great Crimson Lotus).** Caladbolg emitting a red glow, Naruto dived, swinging his sword down in a perfect vertical line, as a red sphere erupted from the end. It struck Shinichiro full on, leaving a charred but still breathing gangster in its wake.

"Well that wasn't too hard, now was it?" Kanade questioned the blond as he returned Caladbolg to the pocket dimension it came from.

"I guess not. Everything turned out fine then?" The catgirl nodded in response to the dogboy's statement.

"Hey! What about my shop? It's totally wrecked!" One civilian shouted. Others soon followed.

"Yeah! My inn is wrecked too!"

"You ruined my restaurant's business!"

"Hehehe! I think we should bail while we still can, my lord," The black-haired girl suggested to the noble dogboy. His decision was made a lot easier when the pitchforks started appearing.

"Eep! Let's just get out of here!" With these desperate words, the two demons bolted out of Tanzaku, and onto their journey. Though the travel to Konoha may not be a long one, this pair's true adventure still has a long way to go.

-Scene Breaker-

It was a boring day to watch the gates of Konoha. Not to say that wasn't always the case, but today was especially boring. No one had come by all day, and it was already after noon! Izumo and Kotetsu, the Chunin assigned to watch the gates today, were, too put it lightly, bored out of their minds.

All that was about to change, for a little while anyway, as two travellers walked down the path towards the gate. The bored Chunin eagerly waited for the travellers to arrive before them, however as they neared, the Ninja noticed something that quite strange about the pair.

"D-Does that boy have dog ears?" Kotetsu stuttered out, being the first to recover from his shock.

"I-I think so…" Izumo was brought out of his surprise by Kotetsu's question. "And… Is that a catgirl?"

"Looks like it…" The two had no more time for wondering, as the animal-like beings had reached them.

"Are you two the ones who check our passports and stuff? That's so cool! What's it like?" Naruto, being the eager and curious blond dogboy he was, quickly burst into questions. Fortunately for him, he has the ever-proper and responsible catgirl to keep him in check.

"Baka! Don't bother them, just give them your passport and stay quiet!" Kanade reinforced her order with a swift whack on the dogboy's nose.

"Owwwwwwww!" Naruto groaned, but knowing the black-haired girl's temper, chose to listen to her and remain quiet, handing over his passport and bag for inspection.

"Well, everything seems in order. Welcome to Konoha," Izumo spoke to the pair after checking their things. "Now then-" At that moment, a messenger bird swooped by, carrying a letter addressed to the guards. Kotetsu opened the letter and began reading.

"It seems Hokage-sama has been expecting you two. He requests your presence in his office," Kotetsu informed Naruto and Kanade. "If you'd just come with me, I will guide you to the Hokage Tower."

"Very well. Come on, Naruto-sama!" The catgirl dragged the blond along with her. Izumo was left standing there all alone, in silence. Eventually his brain managed to catch up to the events happening.

"THAT BASTARD DITCHED ME!"

-Scene Breaker-

"So, Naruto-san, Kanade-san, does the agreed upon deal still stand?" Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, asked the catgirl and dogboy standing before him.

"You mean, the one in which we get free lodging in exchange for becoming Shinobi of your village? Of course. We wouldn't even be here otherwise," Kanade replied. "Though, I sincerely hope you don't intend to take advantage of us, or that you don't try to make us take a mission that would be… undesirable to us, if you understand what I'm trying to say."

"There's no need to worry. Konoha does not believe in that path of the Ninja," Sarutobi assured her. "Now then, I think you should be given time to settle into your new home. Since there aren't many available apartments, you will be living in the Sarutobi Mansion until further notice, if that is agreeable to you, of course."

"We would be honoured, Hokage-dono. Thank you for your hospitality," Kanade bowed, grabbing her blond companion by his shirt and dragging him into a bow as well.

"Wonderful! Shiemi will be happy to have guests. She loves to cook for new people," Sarutobi exclaimed. "Tiger, please escort my guests to my home."

At his command, a Tiger-masked Anbu used Shunshin to enter, and gestured for the two young Shinobi-to-be to follow him. After they left, Sarutobi's assistant, Ayane, walked in, a large stack of papers in her hands.

"Well, I hope you enjoyed your break, Hokage-sama, since while you were having your meeting, some more paperwork arrived for you," She cheerfully informed him, placing the stack on top of the rest of the paperwork. "Better get to work~!"

Sarutobi just stared mournfully at the tower of paper before him. _'Noooooooooooooooooooo!'_

-Scene Breaker-

"I'll get you this time, old man!" A young boy yelled out as Naruto opened the door to their new place of residence. The young lunged forwards, only to stop in midair as Naruto put a hand in the way, keeping him in place. "Wha? Who are you?"

"Um, guests," The dogboy replied. "So, what was with the whole attacking us thing?"

"Kono-chan! Did you just try to attack the guests of your grandpa?" A female voice shouted from down the hall.

"Uh… No?" 'Kono-chan' replied unsurely. However, the kimono-clad catgirl was not content to let him lie.

"He did!" Kanade called out to the unknown woman.

"Kono-chan! What have I told you! Urgh, just get back to your chores." The woman walked out into the hall. "Oh! Hello there! I'm Sarutobi Sachiko. I'm Hiruzen-kun's wife. Nice to meet you!" The friendly woman had greying brown hair down to her shoulders and warm brown eyes. She was wearing an apron. "I was just beginning to cook lunch. Come, have a seat!" She insisted of the guests.

"Thank you, Sachiko-san," Kanade replied politely before Naruto could say anything then pulled him along. She then leaned over and hissed into his ear. "Remember your manners, okay?"

"R-Right!" Naruto answered back nervously.

"Well? C'mon, we were invited to sit!" Kanade snapped at him.

-Scene Breaker-

"Kono-chan, stop glaring," Sachiko ordered the young brunette. "So, Naruto-kun, Kanade-chan, how old are you?"

"Well, Naruto-sama here is 14 and I am currently 15," Kanade answered the question.

"And why did you come here?" The woman pushed, trying to learn as much as she can about her new guests.

"Well, Hokage-dono kindly offered us the chance to become Shinobi," Naruto was being very, very careful with his words. He certainly didn't want another smack on the nose today.

"WHAT? You guys get to be Ninja, just like that? That's so not fair! Sachiko's grandson was surprisingly loud for someone so small.

"I guess we're just that good then, Kono-chan," Naruto taunted the young boy. Kanade would have given him another whack, but she had been about to do the same, so it would be rather hypocritical of her to do so.

"Calm down, Kono-chan, only a few more years until you're a Ninja too," Sachiko reassured the boy. However, her grandson wouldn't have any of it, and ran off. Sachiko just sighed. "Sorry. I'll go take this to his room."

"Hey, Kanade! Can we go explore? Please?" The dogboy begged of the kimono wearing girl.

"Alright, alright. We can take a look around," Kanade finally relented under the force of the blond's puppy dog eyes.

"Awesome! You're the best, Kanade!" Naruto shouted out, hugging the black-haired girl. Though he didn't notice in his excitement, the contact got Kanade blushing very heavily.

"Uh, yeah. Don't worry about it," Kanade responded distractedly, trying to get her traitorous mind under control. _'No! I can't think of Naruto-sama in such a way! It is completely inappropriate of my position! Though he technically is no longer a lord- No! Control yourself Kanade!' _Finishing her inner battle, Kanade followed her master as he ran outside.

-Scene Breaker-

"SASUKE-KUN!" A loud cry interrupted everyone's day, as a raven-haired boy rushed through, followed by a horde of fangirls.

Naruto spoke aloud what was on his mind. "The hell was that?"

"That was Uchiha Sasuke being chased by his fanclub," A pink-haired girl informed him matter-of-factly. "You must be new around here to not know that. Where are you from? Oh, sorry! Where are my manners? I'm Haruno Sakura."

"We're from the Land of Lightning. Nice to meet you," Naruto replied as Kanade seemed to not be paying attention, more interested in the clouds, but Sakura had already dashed off in the same direction the fangirls had, screaming about Sasuke.

-Scene Breaker-

"Oh wow, look at that!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly, looking at a bunch of flowers. They were a bright yellow, the same as his hair, and also Kanade's favourite colour, if he recalled correctly. 'Come to think of it, I haven't done anything to thank Kanade for looking after me…' Coming to a decision, he walked over to a counter with a blonde girl who wore her hair in a ponytail.

"Yes? How can I help you? Oh, I haven't seen you around before! Are you new in town? Anyway, nice to meet you, I'm Yamanaka Ino. Who are you?" The blonde girl asked.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and yeah, this is my first day here. I'm looking to buy some of those flowers over there. The yellow ones, you see them?" The dogboy pointed to the ones he wanted.

"Oh? Looking to impress a certain someone, are you?" Judging by the amount Naruto blushed in response, that was in fact his intention. "Well, in that case, and since you're new around here, I'll give you 20% off this purchase only."

"Thank you , Ino-san!" Handing over the required amount, Naruto quickly got the flowers and left.

"Come back anytime!" Ino called out after him.

-Scene Breaker-

"Um, Kanade?" Naruto spoke out to his loyal catgirl.

"Yes, Naruto-sama?" Kanade prompted the dogboy to continue, while wondering what he was hiding behind his back.

"Well, um… I wanted to thank you, you know, because you've been looking after me, even though I've been nothing but trouble the whole time, so… here. These are for you," Naruto held out the flowers he bought to her, becoming enraptured by the way her animalistic pink eyes lit up at the gift.

"Oh, Naruto-sama…" Kanade gently took the offered flowers, blushing and holding them close to her as Naruto grinned. "Thank you, Naruto-sama."

"Hey, I'm the one thanking you, remember?" Naruto reminded her, before turning around to continue walking, only to walk into a pineapple-haired male. "Waah!" Naruto cried out in shock as he fell backwards.

"Troublesome," Was all the other boy had to say on the matter. He didn't even bother moving from his new position.

"Hey, you okay?" Naruto asked the lazy boy.

"Yeah, this seems a good spot to watch clouds from. Thanks, guy." The pineapple head replied after a few seconds.

"I have a name, pineapple. I'm Uzumaki Naruto," The blond dogboy replied irritably.

"So do I. Nara Shikamaru," Shikamaru then closed his eyes and soon after, began snoring.

Both Naruto and Kanade just sweatdropped. _'How lazy can one person get?'_

-Scene Breaker-

"Hey, Naruto-sama, perhaps we should stop and get something to drink? I am getting rather thirsty from all the walking around we've been doing," Kanade asked of her lord.

"Well, you do have a point. Alright then, let's get a drink!" Naruto picked a store at random and walked in, then walked out five seconds later. "No drinks there."

"Naruto-sama, perhaps there?" Kanade pointed at a store with a sign reading 'Ichiraku Convenience' and began walking towards it, the blond following her.

"Ah, hello there!" A girl dressed as a waitress walked over. Her nametag read 'Ichiraku Ayame' "Are you here for the ramen bar, or do you wish to look at our products?"

"Uh, we just want some water is all," The dogboy informed her politely.

"WHAT? How can you possibly turn down the Ichiraku Ramen? It's the best food you'll ever taste?" A large boy sitting at the ramen counter yelled at them.

The ramen chef laughed at the boy's enthusiasm. He wore a nametag with 'Ichiraku Teuchi' on it. "It's quite alright, Choji," He assured the boy good-naturedly. "They don't have to like it. After all, it just means more you, right?"

"RIGHT!" Choji yelled out and began eating with gusto.

"Ah! Akimichi-san! You shouldn't eat so fast!" Ayame called out to him.

"Ichiraku-san? Here's the money for our water. I already got what we wanted from the shelves," The catgirl informed the waitress, handing her the money for their purchases, then tugging Naruto's sleeve to pull him along with her as they left the store.

-Scene Breaker-

"Huh. We've been out a while, haven't we?" Naruto mused, using the sun to tell what the time was.

"Well, we have been meeting a few people, so I guess that makes sense. We saw a lot of the village though, didn't we? Kanade tried to cheer him up.

"Yeah, I guess, but I want to see even more!" The dogboy complained, His feral blue eyes holding a wistful look.

"You've always got tomorrow," The ever-loyal catgirl pointed out, patting the despondent blond on the back.

"Yeah! Tomorrow I'm gonna see everything!" Naruto yelled out, rejuvenated by the reminder.

"It is quite illogical to expect to be able to see all of a village as big as Konoha in a single day," A shades wearing boy nearby pointed out.

"Oh yeah! And who exactly says this?" Naruto growled out, getting right up in the strange boy's face.

"My name is Aburame Shino," Shino informed the angry blond calmly.

"That so? Well then Abura- Ack!" Naruto was pulled away from Shino by Kanade tugging on his ear sharply.

"My apologies, Aburame-san. We'll stop troubling you," Kanade made a short bow, then resumed pulling Naruto away, Ignoring his complaints.

"What an illogical person."

-Scene Breaker-

"Baka! Don't just go picking fights!" Kanade yelled at Naruto a short distance away. "Geez, do you never think your actions through?"

"I'm sorry," Naruto replied sadly. "I know I shouldn't be so quick to anger."

"Hahahahaha! Just look at this guy! Such a loser, just letting a girl yell at him like that, Right, Sai? A rough-edged looking boy with a puppy on his head called out to the extremely pale boy standing next to him.

"Quite. To let himself be scolded by a female like that, he must have a really sma-" Sai was interrupted mid-sentence by Kanade.

"Sexist pigs!" She yelled as she punched the two through the air easily. Naruto could do little more than sweatdrop.

_'And she was lecturing __me__ on not losing my temper?'_ Naruto thought to himself. Of course, he'd never say such a thing out loud, for fear of her wrath.

"How dare you! I'm Inuzuka Kiba of the great Inuzuka Clan! How dare you, a lowly female-" Any further ranting was silenced as the catgirl slammed her foot onto his face.

"Shut it. Any more sexist comments, and I'll make sure you're no longer a man. Get it?" The kimono-clad girl hissed at the arrogant boy. He nodded frantically. "Good. And don't forget it." Turning away, she ran back over to the waiting blond. "C'mon! Let's head back already!" She demanded.

"What monstrous strength!" Sai could do little more than whisper in shock.

-Scene Breaker-

The animal-like pair was almost back when they crossed paths with the Hyuuga heiresses.

"Hey! You should be bowing before the Hyuuga Clan, you peasants!" A snobbish young girl of ten years barked at the two. She, along with her blue-haired sister, had blank white eyes.

"No way! Like we'd bow before such a brat!" Naruto replied dismissively.

"Sister, please don't cause any trouble. Let's just go," The blue-haired girl implored her sister, who simply brushed her off.

"Shut it, Hinata! These fools should learn their place, bowing before the might that is me, Hyuuga Hanabi!" Hanabi declared loudly.

"That's nice," Kanade spoke mildly. "Now, if you don't mind, we really must be going."

With that, they were off. Hanabi merely fumed at the backs of those who'd dared to ignore her.

-Scene Breaker-

"Well, did you have an eventful day?" Sachiko questioned Naruto and Kanade during dinner. They were sitting at a table along with 'Kono-chan', who'd finally calmed down, Hiruzen himself, and his son, Sarutobi Asuma, who happened to be a Jonin.

"That's one way of putting it..." The catgirl and dogboy responded simultaneously.

"That's good to hear," Hiruzen spoke up. "However it seems some proper introductions are in order. Naruto-kun, Kanade-chan, allow me to introduce Asuma," Here, he gestured to his son. "And Konohamaru," Now, he gestured to his grandson. "But, also, I should tell you that tomorrow, you'll have to go to the Shinobi Academy. I'll have Tiger guide you again, since it's just for the graduation day. You'll be put in your teams and assigned a Jonin."

"Will we be on the same team?" Kanade asked worriedly. Naruto also looked quite concerned.

"Well, It's supposed to be a secret, but yes, you are. Now, you didn't hear that from me, okay?" The old man finished sternly.

"What a relief," Naruto sighed. "I was worried I'd be stuck on a team full of people I don't know."

Kanade definitely shared his sentiment. "How fortunate we are, indeed."

-Scene Breaker-

In the quiet of the night, a shadow darted across the street and into an unlocked store. And then another. And another. And another. And another. And, well, you should get the idea by now.

Soon after, the shadows began leaving the store, this time carrying stolen objects in their... limbs.

The shadow continued to dart around the street, stealing more and more. By the time they finished, they'd hit every store in the street.

As they lugged the goods down the streets, one of the shadows tripped and fell into the light of a lamppost, revealing that the thieves were not human at all. The thieves were all blue penguins with peg-legs and fanny packs.

"You idiot! What if someone had been around to see you, dood?" One penguin spat out. "If the humans were to find out about us, the Prinny people..." He trailed of, allowing imagination to fill in the rest.

"That doesn't matter now, dood. We just need to get these back to the goddess, dood," Another Prinny reminded the two. "If this doesn't satisfy her, dood, what does the future hold for us?..."

-Scene Breaker-

"Good morning, Naruto-kun," Sachiko called out to the young man as he walked downstairs.

"Oh, good morning," Naruto replied half-heartedly as he took a seat.

"What's wrong? You don't seem as enthusiastic as usual," Sachiko poked him in the shoulder.

"Hmm? I'm just a little distracted is all," The dogboy explained.

"Well, it is a big day for you today, becoming a Ninja and all that. There's a lot of responsibility that's going to be given to you," The woman told him.

The blond sighed, a far-off look entering his eyes. "Responsibility, huh?"

"So, where's Kanade-chan?" Sachiko, beginning to get uncomfortable, decided to change the subject.

"She's still asleep. Safer for me not to wake her," Naruto informed her. Sachiko frowned.

"I'll go get her. You help yourself to whatever," She told the blond.

"Sure," Naruto replied agreeably, eyeing the instant ramen in the open cupboard as Sachiko went upstairs to the room Kanade shared with Naruto.

She knocked on the door. "Kanade-chan, you awake?" The brunette called out before entering to see Kanade sprawled on her bed, dressed in her kimono and apparently ready.

"C'mon, breakfast time," Sachiko nudged the black-haired girl, who groaned and opened her pink eyes.

"... Fine," She groaned out as she sat up. "Is Naruto-sama awake?"

"He should be having breakfast now." She informed the catgirl, who then rushed downstairs.

"Yo. I got you pork ramen," Naruto informed Kanade as two untouched bowls sat in front of him.

Kanade was quite surprised. _'Geez, first you remember my favourite flowers, now my favourite ramen? You really are one of a kind.'_

Forgetting her surprise for now, Kanade joined Naruto for breakfast, and then the two bid Sachiko farewell and headed for the Shinobi Academy.

-Scene Breaker-

Umino Iruka probably shouldn't have been so surprised. Why would a bunch of unruly brats behave just because they were about to become Ninja? Regardless, Iruka had to shut them up somehow.

"SHUT UP YOU UNGRATEFUL FOOLS!" In reality, there was probably a better way to handle the situation, but Iruka had no idea what that could be.

"Okay, so as of today, you're all full-fledged Genin. Now before I tell you what teams you're assigned to, there's a notice I need to read," Picking it up, Iruka gave it a once-over, only to find some sort of surprising information, as he then reread the note. Gulping, he informed the class. "Well, it seems that there will be a couple people joining us today and becoming Genin alongside you," He waited for someone to complain. And complain they did.

"That's bullshit! Why didn't they have to do the test like we did?"

"Yeah, we worked really hard on that test! How come they just get to become Ninja with no effort at all?"

"If you'd like to take it up with the Hokage, be my guest. Otherwise, we'll wait for them," He gave a moment of silence. "That's what I thought."

Any further discussion was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Um, is this class Umino?" A blond-haired boy, with droopy, black-furred dog ears on his head, wearing a white and red robe asked.

"That's correct. Would you two happen to be Uzumaki Naruto and Matsumoto Kanade?" Iruka asked back.

"That's us. So, may we come in?" A black-haired girl, with fuzzy, brown-furred cat ears on her head, wearing a green kimono questioned as she stepped into the room.

"Just take the spare seats there in the front row. I'm about to announce the teams," Iruka informed them. However, he was interrupted before he could begin.

"Hey! How can you two just barge on in and become Ninja with a snap of the fingers, while the rest of us had to work our butts off passing the graduation exam?" Inuzuka Kiba yelled out.

"Well, if you really had to work so hard to pass a simple test, then I'm sure we'll make much more competent Shinobi than you!" Kanade snapped back, aggravated by her memory of their encounter yesterday.

"Oi! You take that back!" Before any more could be said, Iruka interrupted.

"NO FIGHTING! The Hokage approved them as Genin, so trust his judgement." Iruka implored. Naruto decided to make a suggestion.

"If anyone wishes to doubt us, I'm more than willing to fight to prove our strength," Naruto announced. Kiba leapt at the opportunity.

"Alright! Me and Akamaru will crush you!" The puppy on Kiba's head barking in agreement. Also eager to fight was Uchiha Sasuke.

"I'll fight you. No need for the idiot to get involved." Hanabi, not wanting to be left out, and seeking revenge for her earlier 'humiliation', also accepted the challenge.

"I'm going to be the one to beat you," Naruto grinned at the challengers.

"Perfect. In fact, just to give you three a chance, how about you all fight me at once?" The challengers did not take that comment kindly.

"Why you-!" The synchronised cries of anger were silenced by Iruka's yelling, who then went on to announce the teams. Funnily enough, all the people the dogboy and catgirl had met the previous day were in the same teams. The teams announced were Team 2,3,4,6,7,8,9,10 and 12. Of those, Team 8 consisted of Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino and Sai, led by Yuuhi Kurenai. Team 10 consisted of Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Choji, Nara Shikamaru and Hyuuga Hanabi, led by Sarutobi Asuma. And then there was Team 7, consisting of Matsumoto Kanade, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, led by Hatake Kakashi.

Kanade made a mental note to find out where Training Ground 7, the ground Team 7 would meet at, was located. Then, she headed outside along with everyone else, to watch the ensuring fight.

-Scene Breaker-

"So then, you gonna attack, or what?" Naruto cockily stood unguarded after having dispatched Kiba in a single punch, when the boy made a frontal charge. Hanabi was next to attack, slipping easily into her family Taijutsu stance. However, Naruto dodged every hit, and then countered with a roundhouse kick that sent Hanabi flying across the grass.

Last to attack was Sasuke, who tried to launch a sneak attack, but Naruto saw it coming, and ducked close to the earth, before delivering a powerful uppercut that knocked Sasuke to the ground.

"See? That's what happens when you underestimate me. Guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow, teammate." With those parting words, Naruto merely walked out of the Academy grounds, Kanade alongside him.

-Scene Breaker-

"Where the hell is that bastard?!" Haruno Sakura yelled out, extremely annoyed at how late Team 7's Sensei was, much like the other people at Training Ground 7.

_'It's already been three hours. Just how long will we be waiting?'_ Uzumaki Naruto thought to himself, his floppy ears dropping down more than usual. In fact, it was impossible for him to hide when he was sad, since when he was, his ears would drop all the way down to the sides of his head, and when he was happy, they would perk up to their full height.

Matsumoto Kanade, vicious catgirl that she was, decided instead to focus on how to take revenge on their tardy Sensei when he did arrive. _'After plucking out his fingernails, I think I'll burn his eyeballs out, and then...'_ Moving on, before anyone becomes mentally scarred, we have everyone's _favourite_ Uchiha.

_'Hn...'_ Such words of wisdom. Truly, what would we do without those insightful comments of yours, Sasuke? Before much more fuss could be created (Read: Another hour later), A man with spiky silver hair, and wearing a ninja headband with Konoha's symbol over his left eye, and a face mask covering everything from the nose down, appeared in a puff of smoke, holding an orange book that only Kanade recognised.

"Uh... I guess you four must be Team 7 then? In that case, let's have some introductions," There was a long silence as the members of Team 7 absorbed what was happening.

"Sooo, start by telling me about yourselves," The man decided to prompt them. Sakura looked unsure.

"How should we do that, Sensei?" She asked nervously. The silver-haired man sweatdropped.

_'This is the smartest Kunoichi of the year?'_ "I'll start, then. My name is Hatake Kakashi. I like some things, and dislike other things. My hobbies?... Hmm... And as for dreams, well, you aren't really old enough to be hearing that."

_'All we learned was his name...'_ Was the thought that ran through each member of Team 7's mind.

Kakashi snapped them out of their thoughts. "Pinkie, you go first."

"R-Right! My name is Haruno Sakura. I like..." Cue glance at Sasuke and giggle. "My hobbies are reading and..." Another glance at Sasuke followed by giggling. "My dreams..." Glance at Sasuke, followed by dreamy sigh. "And I dislike Ino-pig!" Sakura finished loudly. Here are the thoughts of her teammates:

Sasuke – _'Hn...'_

Naruto – _'She shouldn't go around calling people pigs. Or is that a part of human culture? I'll have to ask Kanade later.'_

Kanade – _'Such a vapid girl.'_

Kakashi – _'A fangirl.'_

Sasuke, being the one closest to Sakura, went next. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I have few likes, and many dislikes. My only hobby is becoming stronger. And my dream... No, my ambition, is to kill a certain man."

Sakura – _'Sasuke-kun is soooooo cool!'_

Naruto – _'Whoa, now we have a wannabe murderer?! What's up with this place?!'_

Kanade – _'...'_

Kakashi – _'An avenger.'_

Naruto was up next. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I like Kanade, seeing new things, and adventures. I dislike being cooped up. My hobbies are finding cool things and learning about everything. My dream... Uh... I'm not... Really sure right now."

Sasuke – _'Hn...'_

Sakura – _'What kind of loser doesn't know what they want to do with their life?'_

Kanade – _'Naruto-sama... He included me in the things he likes...'_

Kakashi – _'An adventure-lover... That's new.'_

As the only one yet to introduce themself, Kanade went last. "I am Matsumoto Kanade. I like Naruto-sama, herbal tea, and board games. I dislike coffee and untidy rooms. My hobbies are gardening and training. My dream is to support Naruto-sama."

Sasuke – _'… Hn...'_

Sakura – _'She calls him Naruto-sama?'_

Naruto – _'… Kanade?'_

Kakashi – _'Oh? A forbidden love between master and servant? This is just like Yoshi and Riku in Icha-Icha volume 13!'_

The four students stared as their Sensei went into a series of perverted giggles, unsure of what to do. Eventually getting back on track, Kakashi adopted a more serious look, not that anyone could tell.

"Now then, I should inform you that you still have one more test to go through before you can really become Genin," Kakashi informed them.

"But, Sensei, we already passed the academy test!" Sakura seemed quite shocked at this turn of events.

"Oh, that? It was just to weed out the hopeless ones. This will be the real test to determine whether or not you can become Genin." Kakashi pulled an alarm clock out of a pouch at his waist. "Let's see... It's about 9:30 now, so I'll give you until 1:30 to complete the test," Setting the alarm on the clock, Kakashi set it down on a log and turned to face his potential students.

"Well, what's the test we have to complete?" Naruto questioned eagerly. Kakashi pulled two bells from his pocket and showed them to the Genin hopefuls.

"Your task is to get a bell from me before time runs out. You can use any strategy you like against me, but if you don't come at me with everything you've got, you may as well give up now." Kakashi explained the rules to the team. Sakura gave out a small gasp.

"But, there are only two bells..." She spoke out. Kakashi eye-smiled at her.

"That's right! Only students with a bell can pass the test and become Genin. Without a bell, you fail!" With that shocking revelation, Kakashi opened his orange book, titled "Icha-Icha Paradise volume 27" and started reading. "Is everyone ready? Begin!"

The Genin hopefuls scattered into the bushes. Well, three of them did.

Kakashi's instincts went into overdrive, and he leapt away from the spot he had been standing in, just in time to avoid Naruto's lunge. Said lunge was followed up by a kick, but being a skilled Jonin, Kakashi had no problem dodging that as well.

"You'll have to try harder than that," Kakashi calmly stated as he continued to dodge attacks from Naruto, not once looking away from his book.

"At least look at me when I'm attacking you!" The dogboy angrily shouted at Kakashi, before launching into another series of strikes, all of which were evaded effortlessly.

In the bushes, Kanade sweatdropped. _'He's totally ignoring his training, and just attacking like a madman.'_

Sasuke opted to prepare some shuriken in his hands, and wait for their Sensei to give an opening. Sakura, on the other hand, just stared at the fight going on.

"Huff... Huff..." Naruto panted, glaring at the lazy Jonin. "Damn... You!" He wiped sweat from his brow as Kakashi chuckled.

"You didn't really think that would work, did you?" The silver-haired man laughed. "You're just a rookie Genin, while I am an experienced Jonin. There's no way you can win like this."

Naruto growled. This guy wasn't even taking him seriously! "We'll see about that! **Materialize: Caladbolg!**" A large sword with a light purple blade appeared in his right hand, preceded by a flash of light. Naruto leapt forward, swinging Caladbolg as he went, and Kakashi only just managed to avoid getting cut in half. "Better watch out now, Baka Ningen!" He taunted the freaked out Shinobi.

_'What the hell! Freakin' sword?!'_ Regaining his cool, Kakashi decided his potential student needed a lesson in humility. "Shinobi Lesson #1: Ninjutsu," He called out, and right as the dogboy swung his sword at him, he was replaced by a log.

"Wha? A log? The hell is this?!" Naruto began flipping out as he cut through a log instead of the Ninja he'd been aiming for.

_'He used Kawarimi to swap places with the log. What a moron, being fooled by such a basic tactic,'_ Sakura thought to herself, having sat still during the whole fight. As Naruto ran deep into the forest, Sakura heard a voice speak behind her.

"Shinobi Lesson #2: Genjutsu."

Wildly, the pinkette turned around, yanking out a kunai and swinging, but no one was there. Then, she heard a groan from the clearing. Looking in that direction, Sakura was shocked to see Sasuke, with many kunai and shuriken sticking out of his body, bleeding badly.

"Sasuke-kun!"

Sakura's scream startled all the other people in the training ground. Kakashi sweatdropped as she collapsed, frothing at the mouth, all from a simple Genjutsu. _'Thought she was better than that. Oh well,'_ He mused to himself.

Sasuke dashed through the forest towards the scream, as that was likely to be where Kakashi was. As he passed a clearing, he saw the silver-haired Jonin standing there, reading that stupid orange book. He jumped down into the clearing, throwing the shuriken he held as he did. As he expected, Kakashi dodged them all easily.

"Hmm... Seems I might have to put away my book for this one," Kakashi announced, shutting his book and placing it safe back in his pouch. Sasuke glared fiercely at him.

"I'm not like the others," He spoke darkly, settling into a fighting stance.

"Hmm, I guess I'll just have to see if that's true then. Shinobi Lesson #3: Taijutsu," The Jonin coolly replied, settling into his own stance. Sasuke rushed forwards, his fist leading the way.

Kakashi blocked the first strike, Sasuke's right hand, with his left, seemingly relaxed as he did so. The Uchiha's left leg followed, aimed at Kakashi's head, and was blocked with the Jonin's right arm. Next, Sasuke's right leg was brought over head to strike down at the lazy cyclops, who was forced to bring his left arm, hand still holding back Sasuke's own, to stop it.

Seeing his chance, Sasuke's left arm shot forward towards the bells that hung at Kakashi's waist. However, the silver-haired Jonin saw it coming and threw Sasuke back, stopping him short, just as his finger grazed one of the bells.

_'Dammit!'_ He had been so close! A cloud of anger boiled in Sasuke's mind. It was nothing compared to the anger he felt towards _That Man_, but it controlled his actions nonetheless. "**Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu!**" **(Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique).** He exhaled, breathing out a great amount of fire as he did.

_'Impossible! Genin can't use Katon! Takes too much Chakra!' _Kakashi thought in shock, his visible eye wide open.

Sasuke intermediately panicked when he saw the Jonin was not in sight. _'Where is he? Right? Behind? Left? Above?' _His fears proved true when he was pulled down into the very ground. _'Below! A Doton Jutsu!'_

"You were right. You aren't like the others," Kakashi had a cold look in his eye as he gazed down at the mostly buried Sasuke. "You're a lot more arrogant than they are," Having said that, Kakashi vanished, leaving behind a small cloud of smoke.

* * *

"Now, Naruto-sama, are we clear on the plan?" Kanade asked for what Naruto felt must have been the millionth time since they came up with it. "You know what you have to do, don't you?"

"Don't worry so much. My job is to watch for any weak points to exploit, right?" The dogboy responded, only a hint of irritation showing in his voice. _'I wish she would stop nagging me. She doesn't think I'm that much of a screw-up... Right?' _He shook his head. No time for doubts now.

"Right. Leave fighting to me. Here we go!" Both of their eyes focused as they became aware of Kakashi's presence. Kanade picked up speed as Naruto hung back.

The moment she was upon the cyclops, she went on the attack. "**Materialize: Konohana Sakuya!**" In a flash of light, a wooden staff, complete with a red crystal at the tip, appeared in her hands, and was swung at the Jonin relentlessly.

Kakashi was hard pressed to avoid the fierce assault. It wasn't as fast as Naruto or Sasuke, but the attacks was strung together far more efficiently. Each attack was meant to draw him into the next, and not a single movement was wasted. _'She's got skill...'_ The cyclops mused to himself as he blocked a sidewards swipe with his arms. _'Though perhaps lacking in power a bit.'_

"**Fire!**" Kanade shouted, the crystal on Konohana Sakuya glowing brightly, and flames erupting from the staff in the startled Jonin's direction.

_'Geez, what's next? Are the other two going to start tossing around fire too?'_ Kakashi mentally complained. He leaped backwards...

"Ack!"

… Only to be launched into the air by a kick from Naruto.

"I told you to wait for an opening!" Kanade yelled at the blond demon.

Naruto gave her a flat look as he replied. "And I did. I saw an opening, so I attacked."

"You moron! There was no point to attacking then, you were supposed to take the bells!" Kanade shouted angrily.

"The what now?" Naruto asked, blinking in confusion.

"The bells, for passing the test! The reason we're fighting him in the first place!" The catgirl couldn't focus anymore, she was just so mad. Why, oh why, must her master be so airheaded?

"That's all well and good," The voice of the spiky-haired Jonin interjected. "But while you two are arguing, your target was able to recover."

_'Crap!'_ Was the general thought on the two demon's minds. Now they'd lost the element of surprise, and they didn't have a plan.

"Guess all we can do now is..." Naruto spoke while smirking.

"Attack!" Kanade yelled as the two rushed forwards.

* * *

"Sa- Sasuke-kun!" Sakura screeched in horror, seeing Sasuke buried up to his head. She acted with speed she otherwise wouldn't have, digging the Uchiha out of his hole. However, instead of thanking her, he seemed agitated that she'd helped him.

"I didn't need help," He spat out bitterly. After that he just dashed off, Sakura doing her best to follow her crush. _'That Guy did better than me, didn't he? That cyclops wasn't even taking me seriously,'_ Sasuke reflected bitterly.

He got close to the spot where Kakashi fended off the team assault from the two demon members of potential Team 7. Sakura, upon arriving, was awestruck. _'Even those two, who just one of could effortlessly beat Sasuke-kun, can't come close to this guy,' _As that thought implies, the fight wasn't going well for the dogboy and catgirl.

The cyclopean Jonin was easily overturning everything they threw at him, and they hadn't been able to surprise him since the failed sneak attack. Sasuke had to wonder. If they were stronger than him (which currently seemed to be the case), and as a team they couldn't win, what chance did he really stand of getting a bell?

Sakura felt her inner self calling out to join in. Even if she couldn't get a bell, she didn't want to just give up. And for the first time in a long while, Sakura listened.

Kakashi was forced to dodge left as a kunai unexpectedly flew at him. Surprisingly enough, Haruno Sakura was the one who had thrown it. _'Well, well. Maybe they have a chance of passing after all. But they still have a long way to go before I lose these bells to them!'_

The only one not participating, Sasuke watched as the fight continued, not really changed by the new player. Kakashi was still far too much for three Genin to handle. _'But teams are made of four Genin,'_ Sasuke's traitorous brain reminded him. But he didn't need teammates! He was just fine on his own! But the niggling conscience had planted a seed of doubt in Sasuke's mind, and he found himself wanting to join in.

The silver-haired Jonin threw Sakura as she tried to deliver a punch, but before she could hit the tree she'd been aimed at, none other than Uchiha Sasuke intervened, catching her in midair and setting her down. Now working together for the first time, Team 7 faced down their possible Sensei, and charged as one. Before they could attack, the bell on the alarm clock sounded, bringing the test to a close.

"We couldn't get the bells..." Sakura said dejectedly. None of the others said anything.

"So, I take it you haven't realised the test's real goal, have you?" Kakashi asked cheerfully. The Genin looked at him in surprise.

"Real goal?" Naruto asked, looking as confused as everyone felt.

"Yep! It's about teamwork!" The Jonin informed them.

"... Teamwork?" In a rare example of visible emotion, Sasuke looked utterly perplexed.

"And with that show you put on at the end, I'm proud to say you all passed with flying colours!" The silver-haired cyclops announced.

"We pass?!" Kanade blinked, before she enveloped in a hug from an ecstatic Naruto.

"That's right. I'll report the good news to Hokage-sama, so you all get some rest. Starting tomorrow, Team 7 will act as an official Genin squad, so meet here at 0700 sharp."

With that announcement, Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Hn... See you tomorrow," Sasuke called out as he walked away from the training ground, a smirk on his face. Sakura also called out goodbyes, leaving as well.

"Well Naruto-sama, I think that's it for us too. How about we go get something to eat as a celebration," The catgirl smiled at him as she said it.

Naruto smiled back. "Sounds great. You can pick the place. I'll eat anywhere."

"Naruto-sama has never spoken truer words."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!"


	2. Shooting Stars

**Chapter 1: Prologues Of A Lonely Soul**

_'It isn't fair!'_ 6 year old Naruto Namikaze shouted inside his head, watching his parents training his twin sister, Matsuri Namikaze. They always paid all their attention to Matsuri. Ever since the day of their birth, Matsuri was the favoured child. Their birthdate, October 10th, was the same day the Kyuubi No Kitsune had attacked Konoha. Their father, Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage, had intended to use a special sealing method, the Shiki Fujin, to seal the Kyuubi inside his son at the cost of his life, however, the previous Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had tricked Minato and used a strange seal called Jutsu Shiki to trap him and be the one to use Shiki Fujin, since, at the age of 56, he felt he had done enough in his life, while Minato still had much to do. The only problem being that baby Naruto was with Minato when he was trapped, so Sarutobi had to use Matsuri to seal the Kyuubi. Long story short, Matsuri became known as the savior of Konoha, while Naruto was slowly forgotten about.

"Alright, that's enough for today," Minato called out to his daughter, bringing an end to the training session. Matsuri stopped, and began panting heavily. "I can't believe how fast you're learning, Matsuri. At this rate, you'll begin learning to control the Kyuubi soon!" He stated.

Kushina smiled at the two. "Well, she is your only child, after all."

"Very true, my love. She's gonna be great!" Minato happily exclaimed.

"Aw, you're making me blush, Tou-san," Matsuri spoke, having regained her breath.

The three walked off cheerfully, as Naruto continued to sit there in his hiding place, staring at the spot they'd been talking. Their conversation repeating in his mind. Three words stuck out to him, "Your only child." As much as he didn't want to admit it, the words hurt him, the fact that they could so casually forget he even existed causing tears to well up in his eyes.

"Fine then! If they don't want me as their son, then I won't be!" Naruto declared as he stood up, tears streaming down his face. "But, if I just leave, they can bring me back as a member of the Namikaze clan. So, I have to get myself excommunicated from the clan. But how? I'll need the clan head's signature." The only problem was, as inattentive towards him his father was, there was no way he'd sign a document without reading it first. Just then, a perfect plan formed in Naruto's mind.

* * *

The next day, Naruto walked up to his father before he left for work, holding a blank book of paper and a pen in his hands.

"Otou-sama, could you please sign this? A friend has a birthday coming up soon and you're his idol, so I hoping to give him a signing book, with your name already there as the first on it." Naruto asked, hoping the Hokage bought the excuse. There were no glaring holes, but Naruto had never mentioned any friends before, as he didn't have any. Thank his sister's fame for that.

"Sure, whatever." Minato distractedly replied, clearly thinking about something else. He took the book and quickly signed at the bottom of the page, before handing it back to his son. "Is that all? Good. Scram now, I've got work to go to."

"Yes, thank you, Otou-sama." Naruto hastily spoke before turning and walking away. He went back to his room and began to work. He quickly forged an excommunication paper, using the signed page from the book he had bought yesterday to carry out his plan. He then packed everything he would be taking, being sure to steal some money and food from downstairs, and packed plenty of water. He then left the bags in his room and took the paperwork to the Hokage tower, and to the clan matters office. Once there, he handed it over to the receptionist. She quickly read over the paper, and looked at the young child with eyes full of pity, but the blond merely walked out.

Upon getting back to the Namikaze clan compound, Naruto wrote a dated letter, explaining what he'd done, though the only given explanation as to why was that he hated them and did not consider them family. He then took his bags and left the compound, being careful to avoid his mother as he did so. He then waited out until the gate guards switched to a couple of newly promoted chunin, who were lazy and unmotivated, and wouldn't notice him leaving. He only knew the two because they'd given Matsuri a present at their last birthday, two weeks ago. However, their complaining about gate duty had caught his attention, and he'd listened in on their conversation, learning what times and days they had it. Naruto had gotten really lucky, and he knew that, but it didn't stop him from congratulating himself on successfully leaving the village that forgot him.

* * *

**One Month Later**

Naruto was tired. He'd hadn't been to a village in more than a week, and he was completely lost. To make matters worse, he'd lost his water pack five days ago when panicking animals had stampeded by. He had no idea what had happened, but took it as his cue to get out of there. Unfortunately, in all the confusion, he hadn't been able to get the pack, and he hadn't had anything to drink since then.

"I... Can't go on," Naruto muttered to himself, his eyesight getting dim. "Can't even survive a month alone. How pathetic I am." He felt his knees buckle, his legs unable to support his weight any longer.

"Hey! Hang on!" A male voice called out to him. He saw a blue haired man rushing towards him, but he was so tired. So... Tired.

The last thing Naruto saw before he collapsed was a brown eye, with a red tattoo surrounding it.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Epilogues Of A Hopeful Soul**

"Urgh... Water," The thirst was unbearable. Naruto knew only one thing in that moment. He needed water, badly!

"Hang on," A man's voice called out as the sound of rushing water reached Naruto's ears. The man who seemed to be the one who saved him ran over, holding the bottle of water in his hand. Naruto quickly snatched the bottle from him, but fortunately, the blue haired man didn't seem to mind.

"... Thank you," Naruto spoke upon finishing the water bottle. He gently set it down next to him. "Um, if you don't mind me asking... Just who are you?"

"Me? The name's Jellal Fernandes!" Jellal stated. Naruto just stared at him.

"Jellal... Fernandes?" He questioned. The name sounded strange. Foreign, even. But this man, in only a short amount of time, had shown him more kindness than his own parents, and seemed to have absolutely nothing to gain from it.

Jellal grinned. "Yep! That's right! So, how about you? You got a name?" He prodded.

_'Well, it certainly wouldn't be much help to me to not say my real name,' _Naruto mused to himself. He decided to trust Jellal. The man seemed nice enough. "Naruto Namikaze... No, wait... I'm not one of them anymore. It's just Naruto. No last name."

Jellal looked a bit saddened after the blond's declaration. _'His family didn't want him, huh?'_ Jellal thought sadly, until a bright idea popped into his head. "Hey, how about... I'll be your big brother!"

"... Wha?" Was Naruto's eloquent response.

"Yeah! I mean, you don't have anyone to look out for you, and, well... It gets a little lonely at times," Jellal admitted sheepishly.

Naruto weighed the pros and cons of such a thing. On the plus side, he'd have someone to help him, meaning more supplies and better money management. But on the negative side, having two people meant needing twice the supplies. But again on the positives, Jellal really didn't seem in a position to gain a lot from taking Naruto in. Maybe he really was just lonely. With his thoughts sorted, Naruto made a decision.

"Alright. I'll go with you." Jellal's face morphed from anticipating to ecstatic.

"Yeah! Okay, let's get going!" With that said, Jellal rushed out of the room. "I'll pack the bags!" He called out over his shoulder to Naruto.

Naruto watched in silence as Jellal rushed off to get ready. He had a feeling in his gut that told him this was the best decision he'd ever made.

* * *

**That Night**

"Right, I'll start a campfire," Jellal declared. Naruto couldn't help but notice Jellal just had a bunch of wood piled up, and no way to light it. The blue haired man was also clearly not a ninja. However before Naruto could speak up, Jellal held out his hands and flame burst out of them and set the logs alight.

"How did you do that!" Naruto asked, shell-shocked. Jellal smirked at him.

"Magic."

"Yeah, right. How about the truth?" Naruto quickly felt his anger rising.

"I did. It really is magic," Jellal spoke matter-of-factly. "I can even teach you, if you're interested."

"R-Really?" Naruto was shocked. _'You aren't in Konoha anymore, Naruto. No one is going to judge you out here,'_ The blond reminded himself.

And that was how Naruto began learning magic.

* * *

**Two Months Later**

Naruto was finally beginning to get the hang of Fire Magic. It wasn't easy, but Naruto was learning, and could now conjure fire, though he couldn't use it much yet. Jellal had promised that when Naruto was stronger and able to handle it, he would teach him more powerful magic. But today, they were visiting an island called Mother Island, which was one of the islands that made up Umi No Kuni. They had only just got off the boat, and Jellal told the young blond to take a look around while he took care of preparing for the person he was meeting tomorrow. Naruto was just wandering around until he came across a beach, with a girl about his age with bandages wrapped around parts of her sitting and staring at the ocean.

"Um... Hello there?" Naruto waved awkwardly as the girl turned to stare at him. She continued staring for a bit longer, before turning away and looking at the sea once more. The blond decided to walk over to her. "Do you mind if I sit next to you?" He asked the black haired girl gently. After a few moments, when she still didn't respond, he decided it wasn't a no. "Do you come here often?" He tried to break the silence, but the girl remained unresponsive. "So, um, what's your name?"

"Why do you care?" The girl snapped at him. He stayed silent.

"... My name is Isaribi." The girl mumbled out, but due to their proximity, Naruto heard it anyway.

"Isaribi, huh? It's a pretty name."

"What the hell would you know?" Isaribi spat viciously.

"It's nice to meet you, Isaribi. I'm Naruto." The former Namikaze grinned.

"Yeah..." Isaribi whispered. _'It's nice to meet you too, Naruto.'_

* * *

**That Night**

Jellal had gotten a room at the local inn, and was now looking for Naruto. He eventually traced his steps to the beach. However, once he found Naruto, he was a little surprised. He was sleeping, snuggled against a girl with bandages wrapped on her body in odd places, who was also sleeping. He moved closer, which seemed to cause the girl to stir.

She saw him, and immediately pulled Naruto close to her for comfort. Jellal smiled at the cute sight.

"Aren't your parents looking for you?" He asked her gently. She shook her head, causing the blue haired man to frown. "Well then, would you like to stay with Naruto and I for the night. The excited look on her face was answer enough for him.

* * *

**The Next Morning**

Naruto woke feeling the best he had since, well... forever. However, he was quite taken aback when he noticed that Isaribi was in his current bed with him. He decided not to wake her, and attempted to inch his way out, but was halted when she pulled him closer to her, surprising him with her strength.

"I don't think you're leaving anytime soon, huh?" A voice teased from out of his sight. However, at this point, Naruto had no trouble at all recognising it.

"Jellal," The mage-in-training growled.

"Your little friend there seems to have become quite attached, if I may say so."

"You may not."

"Well, I'm meeting my old friend in about an hour, so I'm heading out. Behave, okay?"

"Shut up," Naruto would have said harsher, but he didn't want to risk waking Isaribi, so he kept his tongue in check.

Jellal chuckled quietly as he left the room. Sighing, Naruto settled in, resigning himself to his current fate.

* * *

**An Hour Later**

"So, Jellal, what can I do for you?" An old lady with pink hair asked, sitting at a bar next to a blue haired man.

"I need your help. I'm teaching a kid magic-" The tattooed man began, before he was cut off.

"Say no more. You want to know how much you can teach him."

Jellal knew it wasn't a question. "Yeah. He's already learning Fire Magic, but I'm not sure if I can teach him any other types of magic."

"Here. I thought it would be something like this. So, these are special papers capable of telling what magic one can learn. It can only be made here in Umi No Kuni, actually." The old lady handed him a pack of the sheets.

"Why so many?"

"You have more use for them than me. Use them as you see fit." With that, the pink haired woman took her leave.

* * *

**Fifteen Minutes Earlier**

"Hggh..." Isaribi groaned as she woke up. "Wah!" She yelled out as she shot up, not used to being in a bed, and thus rather startled upon finding herself in one.

"Hmm? Oh, Isa-chan, you're awake!" Naruto noticed. The events of the previous day came back to Isaribi's memory.

"Naruto-kun..." She muttered. Naruto appeared to be thinking of something.

"Isa-chan, could you please show me around the town? I mean, if it isn't to much trouble-"

"Of course I'll show you around!" The fish girl assured him, not wanting to disappoint him, despite her misgivings.

* * *

"It seems like a nice town."

"Yeah, it does, doesn't it?" Isaribi seemed distracted as she replied in a wistful voice.

"Well, well, well." A mean sounding voice called out. "Just what do we have here?"

A group of kids stood in front of the duo. "It looks like some idiot is associating with the monster. Perhaps we should teach them a lesson?"

"Hey!" Naruto felt his fury build up inside him, hearing these- these- these _imbeciles_ insulting Isaribi. "What the hell makes you think you have the right to talk about Isa-chan like that!"

"Why wouldn't we talk about a monster as the trash it is? Now move, this sea monster's in for a beating, and so are you if you hang around!"

"Oh yeah?" Naruto's anger overrode his common sense, and he called upon his magic, sending his hands up in flames as his glare turned full force on the foolish brats. "Are you gonna make me?"

"Ahh! Another monster!" Naruto smirked in satisfaction as the bullies ran screaming.

"Naruto!" Jellal called out. "C'mon it's time for us to leave."

"... Wait!... Please, take me with you! I'll do whatever I have to, just, please, don't leave me behind!" Isaribi pleaded of them.

"Of course you can come, Isa-chan! Like we'd ditch you here. C'mon, have a little faith!" Naruto smiled at her, and Isaribi felt herself smiling in return.

_'Is this... happiness? What a wonderful feeling...'_


	3. Cardfight Vanguard Zeta

_In this world, there are a lot of different things, both good, and bad. I never thought that a card game could alter my life completely._

**Ride 1, Start: What's a "Vanguard"?**

It was a bright, sunny day. You'd have to be crazy to be depressed on such a beautiful day, most people would say. Of course, most people wouldn't be Uzumaki Naruto, 14 year-old boy with more problems than he cared to count.

"C'mon, Nii-san, get out of bed!" A young girl tried to drag him out of his nice comfy bed, if only he could stay in there a bit longer. She had vivid red hair down to her neck, and red eyes as well. A slightly pale skin tone and a black ribbon in her hair, matching her black uniform, completed her appearance. "Nii-san! Wah!"

With a mighty tug, the girl managed to completely yank away her precious "Nii-san" from his beloved, cozy, warm covers. With a groan, Naruto accepted his fate, preparing himself for another day. He dressed himself in his school uniform, and trudged his way down the stairs.

"Hurry up, Naruto! You'll be late if you take any longer!" A mature voice called from the kitchen. That was Uzumaki Mito, his older sister. At 22 years of age, she'd still never had a boyfriend that lasted longer than a month. Naruto reflected guiltily that he was probably part of the reason for that. "Kyūbi, slow down before you choke!"

That was the other part of the reason. Uzumaki Kyūbi, the youngest of the siblings, at 10 years old. With a sigh, Naruto entered the kitchen and poured himself a bowl of cereal, taking note as he did that Mito's rusty orange hair was tied back in a large ponytail today. _'Probably trying to impress some guy she'll just end up dumping anyway.'_

Finishing quickly, Naruto packed his bag, making sure to include the one thing he held precious to him. Staring at the small box a moment, he allowed his thoughts to drift back to a better time.

"_You really like Vanguard, don't you, Naruto?"_

"_Yeah! It's awesome!"_

"_Then here, I want you to have this."_

"_But, this is your-"_

"_The truth is, Naruto, I..."_

"Nii-san, we have to go now!" Kyūbi called from outside the house.

"H- Huh? Right!" Snapped out of his daze, Naruto sprinted off down the street to catch up to his little sister, his spiky blond hair blowing in the wind.

Mito watched sadly as the teen left. _'Oh, Naruto...'_ She felt like crying, as she did every day she couldn't see the once cheerful blond's smile. But her tears had run dry long ago. For, in the last 7 years, Naruto hadn't smiled even once.

* * *

"Well then, who in the class can tell me who said the famous line, "If you can do something, do it! Don't hesitate!"? How about... Uzumaki Naruto!" A brown haired man shouted, pointing directly at the blond sitting at the back of the class.

"Um... I... Well... I don't know?" The boy stammered, startled at being singled out, ducking his head down quickly. The teacher sighed dramatically.

Not even noticing the occurrence, a student with brown hair sat in the back row, opening a pack of cards. _'Let's see... Flogal, Queen of Heart, Red Gem Carbuncle, NGM Prototype, and Embodiment of Armor, Bahr. These cards are useless!'_ The teen's head slumped in disappointment. _'But, that was the last of my allowance... How will I get cards now?'_

His eye caught another teen slumped over his desk, one with spiky blond hair. Maybe he had an idea after all.

* * *

"Hey there, Naruto," The spiky haired boy gulped. The speaker, along with another black haired boy, had him trapped against the wall of the school hallway.

"Uh... W- What's up, Kurotsuchi-san, Iwamoto-san?" The brown haired boy grinned maliciously.

"See, we have a bit of a problem. We need to buy some vanguard cards, but we don't have any money. So, we were hoping you'd be kind enough to pay for us." Kurotsuchi Yosuke, the brown haired boy, explained.

"But... But, I-" Naruto stuttered, eyes wide in panic.

The other teen, Iwamoto Yoshiharu, spoke up. "We weren't asking." Yosuke nodded. "So, come along quietly."

Naruto yelped as Yoshiharu grabbed him forcefully and began dragging him along with them, a sinking feeling coming to him. Once again, he was helpless, and no one would be saving him.

* * *

Naruto sat in silence, his wallet empty as he'd just been forced to spend all his money on cards for Yosuke and Yoshiharu, which the two were now excitedly going over.

"Yes! With these cards it'll be all winning, all the time!" Yosuke exclaimed loudly. He began looking around the store, seeing if anyone he wanted to play against was there. He heard the door slide open, and looked there, finding his target. A black haired boy, long tail going from his neck all the way down his back. "Tanaka Rei! I challenge you to a game of Vanguard!" The brown haired boy shouted.

"No point. You don't have what it takes to win against me," "Rei" replied coolly, eyes closed. A boy with blue hair standing next to him snickered.

"You're real cold, Rei. Can't blame you though, taking on this loser wouldn't be any challenge at all."

"Why you!" Yosuke's face was getting red from anger. "I'll bet my deck that I can beat you!"

Rei's gold eyes opened. "Fine. It's your loss." His companion seemed to trying desperately not to laugh.

* * *

"Dragon Monk, Goku attacks. That makes six damage, so unless you get a heal trigger..." Rei trailed off, as Yosuke flipped over the top card of his deck. "Well then, I'll be taking that deck, as agreed."

"Urk," Yosuke hung his head, remembering the deal he made. Naruto watched as Rei collected up all the cards. A stray memory surfaced as he saw the card "Enigman Wave".

"_Why did you get in that fight, Kiryu? You said fighting was wrong."_

"_For some people, violence is the only language they understand. Those bullies were going around, beating up kids and taking their cards."_

"_Can't they just get new ones?"_

"_If you only remember a single thing I say, I want it to be this, Naruto. A cardfighter's Vanguard cards are their soul. It's not the kind of thing you can replace, and it should always be protected."_

The blond frowned. _'He brought it on himself,'_ He thought coldly. Unbidden, another phrase entered his mind. _"If you can do something, do it! Don't hesitate!"_

"Wait!" He called out to the leaving Rei. The black haired teen turned around to look at the blond. "That deck... Kurotsuchi-san spent hours working on that. Those are the cards that he placed his faith in. So, please... Give them back!" He pleaded.

"I won these in a Vanguard fight. I'm not going to give them up just because you asked me to," Rei stated, holding the deck up.

"Then... Then I... I'll cardfight against you to get them back!" Naruto declared, surprising himself.

"... Alright. If you win, I'll return the deck. Now then, I assume you're new to the game, so buy a deck, and I'll explain the rules as we go," Naruto shook his head.

"I haven't played before, but I already have a deck," He explained, retrieving his blue cardbox from his bag. Rei nodded.

"Alright, first, we prepare a vanguard table. Now, select a Grade 0 unit fro your deck, those are the ones with a zero in the top left corner, and place it face down in your vanguard circle. Your vanguard circle is blue, and mine is red. Are you getting all this?" Seeing the blond nod, he continued.

"Now you need to shuffle your deck. Like that, yeah. Then, to make sure there's no cheating, we cut each other's decks, like so. Next, put your deck here, and draw five cards from the top of your deck. Now, we begin. I'll go first, and show you how it's done." Rei paused his explanation, looking to Naruto for confirmation.

Naruto nodded. "That's fine." Yoshiharu gawked, never having seen Naruto act like this before.

Rei went straight back to explanation. "The goal of the game is to attack your opponent's Vanguard until they reach six damage. At that point, you win. Now, to start, we both flip over our starting Vanguard at the same time. Ready?" At a nod, both flipped their card.

"Stand up, Vanguard! Lizard Runner, Undeux!" Rei's card was of a bipedal red lizard, holding two swords and decked out in armor.

"Stand up, Vanguard! Grassland Breeze, Sagramore!" Naruto's, on the other hand, was that of a young boy in wolf-like armor.

"Gold Paladins?" Rei murmured, caught off guard.

"Both units have a power of 6000. But, I've never seen that card before," Yoshiharu turned to Yosuke, who shook his head. Rei's blue haired friend piped up.

"I've never heard of that one either," Rei sighed t the other's ignorance.

"That's a Gold Paladin. It's a really old clan, they went out of print a while ago. I didn't think there were any left."

Yosuke gaped. "Wait, you're planning to win with a bunch of relics?" Naruto glared.

"It's my deck! Don't insult them!" Yosuke backed off as Naruto got angry at him. Naruto, the quiet loner, who never got mad and just let people walk all over him.

"Right, we'll start now. Pay close attention. When you start your turn, take the top card of your deck, and add it to your hand. This is the Draw Phase. There's one more phase before this, but that phase isn't important yet. Next is the Ride Phase. In this phase you can ride a unit on top of your vanguard, but you can only ride one that is the same grade as your Vanguard, or is one grade higher. The idea is to ride your way up to the higher grades. I'll demonstrate now."

He selected a card from his hand, and slammed it down on the Vanguard Circle, directly above Lizard Runner, Undeux. "I ride Iron Tail Dragon!" This one was a red dragon, breathing flames as it flew in the air **(Power: 7000)**. "Then we move to the Main Phase."

"In the Main Phase, there are multiple actions you can take. First is to call units to your rear-guard," Rei explained. "I call Follower, Reas!" Behind Iron Tail Dragon appeared a small brown haired girl **(Power: 6000)**. "You see these five yellow circles, to the sides and behind your Vanguard? These are rear-guard circles. You can call other units to these circles, but you can't call any units that are a higher grade than your Vanguard." Naruto nodded.

"Is there a limit to how many rear-guards you can call in one turn?" He asked nervously, figuring he would probably just be ignored. To his surprise, Rei answered it.

"As long as you have empty circles, you can call as many rear-guards as you want. If you want to call a unit but have no space, you can retire a rear-guard and place the unit in that circle. It's important to choose where you place your units carefully, since it's hard to move them later. During the Main Phase, you can also move your side units forwards or backwards, but the rear-guard directly behind your Vanguard cannot move. If you have a unit in both the front and back row of a column, when you want to move one you have to exchange it with the other unit. And your final action is to use card abilities. Some cards will have abilities that you activate manually, and unless the card says otherwise, you do so during this phase. You can use these abilities whenever during this phase, and when you're done, you end your Main Phase, and go to the Battle Phase." Naruto gulped.

"However, since I went first, I can't attack yet, so I'll explain next turn. Now, I enter the End Phase, and my turn is over. Go ahead," Rei encouraged as Naruto sighed in relief. Their small audience watched in silence.

"Alright... I draw," He looked at the new card, then added it to the rest of his hand. "I ride Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth!" The young boy was replaced with a man wearing gold and red armor, a sword in his right hand **(Power: 8000)**. "Now, I call Charjgal," To the right of the man appeared an armored wolf with a green mane and tail, a double sided blade clenched in its teeth **(Power: 6000)**. "And I also call another Grassland Breeze, Sagramore," Behind the knight, the young boy appeared again **(Power: 6000)**. "So, I move to the Battle Phase, right?" Naruto asked.

Rei nodded. "That's right. Now, you rest your front row units by turning them on their side, and that means you attack with them. And you can rest a back-row unit as well to add their power to the unit in front of them."

Naruto nodded again. "In that case, I attack with Gareth, boosted by Sagramore!" He rested the units **(Power: 14000)**.

"Now, since your Vanguard attacked, flip over the top card of your deck," The black haired boy instructed. "And look at the top-right corner. If there's a symbol there, you get a bonus."

"You mean like this one?" The whisker-marked blond asked, showing a card with a red symbol in the corner. It was Weapons Dealer, Gwydion. Rei blinked.

"That's a Draw Trigger. All triggers let you increase the power of one of your units by 5000, but they also have a second effect. This one lets you draw an extra card." Naruto drew a card, then looked at his units.

"I think I'll give the power to Charjgal," He decided **(Power: 11000)**. Rei nodded.

"Now I take a point of damage. Like when a Vanguard attacks, when you take damage, you check for a trigger," He did so, but didn't get anything. "Then, instead of adding it to your hand like when you attack, you put it in the damage zone, over on the left. And then you continue."

"Next I attack with Charjgal!" Naruto announced as he rested the unit.

"Now, I'll explain an ability of the defending player. You can guard with cards from your hand, by placing them up in front of your Vanguard. This spot is called the Guardian Circle. Then, their shield value is added to the power of the unit they protect. If the defending unit has more power than the attacking unit, the attack will fail. So, I guard with Gattling Claw Dragon!" A robotic dragon with a chaingun appeared in front of the red dragon, causing the armored wolf to pause, then retreat **(Shield: 5000)**.

"Okay, I end my turn," Naruto sighed as Rei drew a card.

"I ride Chain-attack Sutherland! And I call Embodiment of Armor, Bahr, and Flame Edge Dragon!" Iron Tail Dragon was replaced by a man with spiky green hair and goggles **(Power: 8000)**, and at his sides were a demonic looking armor **(Power: 8000)** and a dragon holding a boomerang **(Power: 9000)**. "And now, I'll attack your Vanguard with Embodiment of Armor, Bahr!"

"But they have the same power! Why would you attack?" Naruto asked, shocked. Rei smirked.

"Because when they have the same power, the attack goes through," He elaborated. Naruto gasped.

"I guard with Precipice Whirlwind, Sagramore!" A young boy holding a bow appeared, taking the blow meant for the knight **(Shield: 5000)**.

"I attack with Chain-attack Sutherland, supported by Follower, Reas!" Rei called, resting the mentioned units **(Power: 14000)**. "And Reas' skill adds 4000 power, bringing the total to 18000!"

"I don't guard," Naruto clutches his cards tighter in worry as Rei checks his drive trigger, and gets a Draw Trigger as well. Naruto's damage trigger only gets Battlefield Storm, Sagramore, not the trigger he hoped for.

"Finally, Flame Edge Dragon attacks your vanguard as well!" The black haired teen declares.

"Player of the Holy Axe, Nimue will guard!" Naruto returns, laying the card in the guardian circle **(Shield: 5000)**.

"I end my turn. Now, before you draw, you get your Stand Phase. Now you get to stand all your resting units," Rei informs the blond.

"Okay. Stand, and draw," Naruto adds a card to his hand. "I ride Player of the Holy Bow, Viviane!" A blue haired woman holding a bow as though it were a violin replaces the golden knight **(Power: 9000)**.

Yosuke was grinning. "If they keep trading damage like this, Rei will lose!" The blue haired boy wasn't so confident.

"Rei isn't likely to let that happen. He'll take the lead," He spoke confidently.

Naruto moved Charjgal to the back row. "I move Charjgal, and then call Knight of Superior Skills, Beaumains!" A red and gold knight emerged to join his comrades **(Power: 10000)**. "Now, Beaumains attacks, supported by Charjgal!" **(Power: 16000)**

"No guard," Rei stated calmly.

"Next, Viviane attacks, with a boost from Sagramore!" Naruto declared as he rested the units **(Power: 15000)**.

"No guard," Rei again announced.

"I activate Viviane's Counter Blast!" Naruto flipped over the card in his damage zone, then checked the top card of his deck. "I superior call Sleygal Sword!" The large dog held a sword in its mouth as it entered the battlefield **(Power: 9000)**. "And he attacks as well!"

"Guard with Dragon Knight Aleph!" Rei declared at last **(Shield: 5000)**.

"I end my turn," Naruto decided and Rei started.

"I stand and draw! Now, ride, Blazing Core Dragon!" A red dragon with flaming claws appeared in place of the green haired man.

"Wait a second..." Yoshiharu blinked. "Why didn't he ride a Grade 3?"

"Maybe he doesn't have one?" Yosuke suggested.

"Now I call Iron Tail Dragon and Gattling Claw Dragon! And next, I use Blazing Core's Counter Blast. I flip one damage, and get to search out a certain card from my deck, and ride it," He took the card out, and placed it on the vanguard circle. "Superior Ride! Incinerate all that stands before you, Blazing Flare Dragon!" A heavily armed dragon, holding both sword and cannon, was detailed on the card **(Power: 10000)**.

Naruto looked over the cards in his hand. _'I need to stop that Vanguard. The other attacks will have to go through.'_

"I attack with Flame Edge Dragon!" The gold eyed teen declared.

"I don't guard," Naruto replied.

"His skill activates. I soulcharge," Rei explained, moving a card from the top of his deck to the pile of cards underneath his Vanguard. "Next, Blazing Flare Dragon attacks with a boost from Reas!"

"I guard with Weapons Dealer, Gwydion, and intercept with Sleygal Sword. I can do that, right?" Naruto asked worriedly **(Shield: 15000)**. Rei nodded in confirmation, then checked his drive trigger.

"Remember that you can only intercept with Grade 2 units, much like how only Grade 0 and Grade 1 units can boost an attack. Grade 3 units, on the other hand, get the ability Twin Drive. They can check two cards in a drive trigger," The older boy explained, to Naruto's shock. "First check, Stand Trigger. This one is blue. It lets me stand one resting rear-guard, and give a unit 5000 extra power. I stand Flame Edge Dragon, and give him the 5000 power. Second check, Critical Trigger. It's the yellow one. I can give a unit 5000 power and they deal an extra point of damage. I'll give that one to Flame Edge as well. And then Flame Edge Dragon attacks!" **(Power: 19000)**

"I... I don't guard," Naruto announces, getting gasps from the three onlookers.

"Flame Edge's skill means I soulcharge again," Rei says, putting the top card into the pile. "Turn end."

"I stand and draw," Naruto declares. As he draws, a feeling of confidence enters him. He checks his new card, and rides it. "I ride Soul Zeta – Synchro Edge!" As he declares this, the numbers 07 appear inside his left iris, a contrasting red to go against the blue eye **(A visual effect, like the rainbow swirl of PSYqualia or another such thing. Please don't complain that no one there comments on it.)**.

The Vanguard is now a knight covered entirely in white armor. Decorative gold lines glow along it. He holds a large sword that pulses with a blue light, and wears a black cape. On the left side of his chest plate are the numbers 07 in red **(Power: 10000)**.

Naruto continues, selecting another card from his hand. "I call Battlefield Storm, Sagramore to rear-guard!" A young man in silver armor, with a sword in each hand appears. "And now, Counter Blast! Synchro Edge!" He flips over two damage. "With this skill, Synchro Edge gains 2000 power for each Gold Paladin in my rear-guard! Which brings his total up to 18000! Okay, Sagramore attacks, with Counter Blast active! At the cost of one damage, he gets 3000 power!" (**Power: 13000)**

"No guard," Rei takes his fourth damage, and gets a Draw Trigger. "Power to my Vanguard." **(Power: 15000)**

"I attack with Synchro Edge, boosted by Sagramore! And Synchro Edge's effect means that since Blazing Flare Dragon isn't the same race as him, he gets 5000 power and a critical!" Naruto declares **(Power: 29000)**.

"I guard with Flame Seed Salamander and Embodiment of Spear, Tahr!" Rei counters, using up most of his hand **(Shield: 20000)**. Luckily for him, the whisker-marked teen doesn't get any triggers.

"I attack with Beaumains, supported by Charjgal!" The blond calls **(Power: 16000)**.

"No guard," The black haired teen decides.

"Oh, he was so close!" Yosuke complains. "He totally had him. Dammit!"

"I end my turn."

"And I start mine. Stand and draw!" The gold eyed teen smirks. "Bahr moves back. I call Berserk Dragon and I think a second one will work as well." Two identical dragons with multiple heads joined the units Rei had already called. "I use Berserk Dragon's Counter Blast! I flip over two damage for each, and retire your Beaumains and Grassland Breeze!" The knight yelled as he was incinerated. "And next, by sending five cards from my soul to the drop zone, Blazing Flare's Soul Blast!" He moved all the cards under his Vanguard to the rectangle behind his deck. "Battlefield Storm, Sagramore is also retired!"

"No!" The blond gasped.

"Argh! He's doomed!" Yosuke whined.

"There's no way he can recover from that." Yoshiharu spoke sadly. "I really thought he could pull it off too."

"Well, um... You shouldn't count your chickens before they've hatched?" Rei's blue haired friend suggested weakly.

"Now, Berserk Dragon attacks, boosted by Bahr!" The gold eyed male rests the selected units **(Power: 17000)**.

"Sleygal Dagger and Beaumains will guard!" The blue eyed teen responds **(Shield: 10000)**.

"Now Blazing Flare attacks, supported by Reas! And it also gains 3000 power for each of your rear-guards retired this turn!" **(Power: 25000)**

_'I- I can't stop it! I don't have enough shield power!' _Naruto thought in panic.

"Drive trigger, first check," Nothing. "Second check, Critical Trigger!"

"No!" Naruto's eyes widened in shock, as did the others.

"It goes to my Vanguard," Rei announced.

_'Is... Is this it? Is this all I'm capable of?'_ First check, nothing. _'I... I... I don't want it to end here! I want to win! I... I want to open this gate in front of me, and enter this world!'_ Second check... A green light flashed from the card!

"A Heal Trigger!" The blue haired teen exclaimed in surprise. Rei's eyes were wide open, such was his shock. Yosuke and Yoshiharu were cheering and yelling. Seeing Naruto's confused look, the blue haired boy elaborated. "When you get one, you can take one card from your damage zone and put it in the drop zone, but only if your damage before the trigger is equal to or more than your opponent's damage."

The blond selected one of the damages he'd already flipped and put it in his drop zone, then put Elixir Sommelier, the card that saved him in the damage zone.

_'This is it. Here I go!'_ "I stand and draw!" Naruto spoke with confidence. "I call Speeder Hound and Fortune Bell to rear-guard!" **(Power: 5000) (Power: 5000)** He flipped over two damage. "Synchro Edge's skill! Plus 2000 power for each rear-guard!" **(Power: 16000)**

"He might actually do this!" The blue haired teen spoke, shocked.

"Fortune Bell attacks with a boost from Charjgal!" The blond declared **(Power: 11000)**.

"Flame Edge Dragon intercepts!" The gold eyed teen countered.

"Oh! So close!" Yosuke gasped.

"Soul Zeta – Synchro Edge attacks, supported by Speeder Hound! And his ability activates as well!" The blue eyed boy called **(Power: 26000) (Critical: 2)**.

"I guard with Lizard Soldier, Conroe and Dragon Dancer, Lourdes! And Berserk Dragon intercepts as well!" The black haired teen responded **(Shield: 20000)**.

"He needs a trigger! Oh, this is just too tense! I can't watch!" Yoshiharu wailed.

"First check..." Sleygal Double Edge. Not a trigger. "Second check..." Dantegal! "Critical Trigger! All effects to Synchro Edge!"

"I see. Damage check. No trigger." Rei revealed the card. **(Soul Zeta – Synchro Edge's Power: 31000 vs Blazing Flare Dragon's Power: 30000)**

"I... won?" Naruto asked. Rei nodded.

"I took six damage. I have lost," He confirmed. "As I agreed, I'll return the deck," It was placed on the table. Rei turned and walked out. "C'mon Rikuo. Let's go."

Naruto ran out after them. "Rei..." He didn't turn, but that wasn't important to Naruto. "Thank you."

Rei waved, and Naruto felt a smile form on his face. It was a small one, and it made his face feel awkward, but it was something.

"I... I didn't need your help!" Yosuke glared. "Yoshiharu, let's go!" He walked off.

"Hey! Wait up! Yosuke!" Yoshiharu called out, running to catch up to his friend.

"Here," A girl with dark green hair handed him his bag. "I'm guessing you were planning to leave now?"

He nodded. "Thanks."

"Well, come back anytime, you'll be welcome," She told the boy. He smiled. "Oh, and I'm Kokoro, in case you were wondering."

"I'm Naruto. Well, goodbye," She waved as he walked down the street.

Once he was gone, a man with green hair and a black fringe came up to the girl.

"Who was that, Kokoro?" He asked her. She grinned a little.

"Oh, just a customer."

* * *

"Ah!" Kyūbi exclaimed, opening her brother's door. "Onee-chan! Onee-chan!" She called out to her sister, getting no response.

"She went down to the store, Kyū-chan," Naruto told her from the kitchen. "We ran out of milk."

"N- Nii-san!" Kyūbi gasped in shock. "You're up?! It's only 7!"

"Yeah, it is. Can't go needing my little sister to wake me up every day, right?" He replied easily.

_'Nii-san...'_ Hearing that, Kyūbi couldn't do anything but smile brightly.

* * *

"Hey! Hey!" A voice called out from behind Naruto as he left school. He turned, only to meet an unexpected sight. It was the boy who'd accompanied Rei yesterday. "So, you go to this school as well, huh? Well, I'm Nanashi Rikuo. Just call me Rikuo!"

"Um..." Naruto was caught off guard by his friendliness. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

Rikuo grinned. "I'll remember that," He suddenly ran off in a different direction. "Nice seeing you!" He called out.

"Uh, yeah," Naruto mumbled. "Nice to see you..." He waved weakly at the spot Rikuo had disappeared around the corner from.

* * *

"Good afternoon," Naruto greeted as he walked into the card shop Plus. It was empty, aside from Kokoro, who smiled at him from the counter, and a black cat, who was lying down on said counter.

"Hey," She returned. With a sigh, Naruto sat down at the same table he'd played Rei on yesterday. He looked down. After a while, Kokoro walked over to him. "Are you waiting for someone?"

He nodded. "Yeah. The guy I played yesterday. But, I'm not sure if he'll be here."

Kokoro gave him a thoughtful look, but didn't say anything. After a few minutes, the black cat looked expectantly at the door, and Kokoro tapped Naruto on the shoulder smiling.

"You know, if I were you, I'd try to have a little more faith," Naruto blinked at her, just before the door slid open, drawing his eyes.

"Yo," Rikuo greeted him from over Rei's shoulder as the two walked into the store. "Hope you didn't miss us too much."

"You... You guys came..." Naruto stared.

"Of course we did. Rei just couldn't wait for another chance to battle you. Isn't that right?" Rikuo prodded Rei, who ignored him and sat at Naruto's table, withdrawing his deck as he did.

"You up for a rematch?" He asked. Naruto smiled.

"You bet!"

_In this world, there are a lot of different things, both good, and bad. I never thought that a card game could alter my life completely, until Vanguard did. Now, I can look forward to each new day, with a smile on my face. So, thank you, Vanguard. But even more importantly, thank you, my friends._

**Ride 1, End**

**Ride 2, Start: Playing for Pride!**

"Nii-san! Wake up!" Kyūbi shouted to Naruto from the kitchen.

"Hang on, I'm coming! Wah!" Naruto called out before he tumbled down the stairs, suffering no injuries from the fall. It isn't like this is real life, you know. Plus, the floor is carpeted. He's fine.

"Hurry up and eat breakfast, or you'll be late!" Mito commanded, causing both younger Uzumaki's a great deal of fear. They quickly rushed through the rest of morning preparations, and headed off for school.

Mito had just turned around to get ready for her own work when Naruto returned. "By the way, I might be late getting back tonight, okay?" He told her before leaving again, giving her no time to ask questions. He was good at avoiding confrontation like that. He may have found friends at his school, and regained the ability to smile, but he still couldn't call himself brave as he was. Especially when it came to dealing with his sister.

Mito blinked. _'Naruto planning to be back late? That's odd. What's up with you, Naruto?'_

* * *

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief as classes finally finished for the day. He hated going to class still. He was still bullied by other students, belittled so they could feel better about themselves. He may have found some joy in life, but that doesn't mean that the bad things went away. But, now he could face each day and keep moving forwards.

"Hey," The voice of Tanaka Rei snapped Naruto out of his thoughts. The blond turned to find the older teen standing behind him. "You ready to go? Rikuo's waiting at the gate."

Naruto nodded. "Sure, let's go," He fell into step beside the black haired boy. "By the way, you said there was some kind of event at Plus today. What is it?" He asked.

"We'll explain when we get there," Rei deflected the question casually. Naruto wasn't surprised. The older boys were being very tight lipped about this thing. All he knew was that it occurred once a week, and involved a Vanguard match.

Naruto smiled as he saw the waving Rikuo standing just inside school grounds, wincing when the bluenette got a bit too enthusiastic and smashed his hand into the fence surrounding the school. Just another ordinary day, really.

* * *

"Lottery Match?" Naruto repeated, looking at Kokoro. The three Vanguard players had arrived at Plus, their regular Card Shop, and the older teens had gotten Kokoro to explain the special event to him.

"Yeah. Basically, people can get a number, and two random numbers will be selected, and those two people will play a match. Not too hard, right?" The green haired girl smiled at him. "So, how about it? You wanna give it a go?"

"Huh? Me?" He blinked. The thought of entering hadn't even crossed his mind.

Rikuo apparently had, however. "You should do it," He told Naruto. "It might give you a chance to learn new skills, and it doesn't hurt to try."

Naruto was hesitant, but went along. "Alright. I'll enter."

Kokoro squealed. "Great! Just fill out this sheet!" She said, handing him a piece of paper with several personal questions, to confirm his validity. He nodded and set to work.

"Hey, Rei, why don't we start up a game while Naruto does that?" Rikuo suggested, getting a look of interest from the gold eyed teen.

* * *

"Is this thing on?" The store manager, a man with green hair, and a black fringe asked into a microphone. "Okay, well, it's that time you all wait for, Lottery Match!" He announced to a few cheers. "Kokoro, start it up!"

"Right!" She pulled two pieces of paper from the jar on the desk. "Today is... #1 vs #53!" She told the crowd.

"Hey, Naruto, that's your number!" Rikuo reminded him.

"W- What? I- I'm going to be playing?" Naruto stuttered, feeling very nervous all of a sudden.

Rei looked around. "But then, who's the opponent?"

"Alright!" A familiar voice shouted from the other side of the room. "Number 1, that's me!" Kurotsuchi Yosuke crowed, coming up to the selected table for the match.

"I'm going to be fighting him?" Naruto squeaked out in a panic. He really didn't want to do this anymore.

"You're already able to play on level with Rei," The bluenette encouraged him. "This guy won't be much of a problem."

"Can the person with #53 please come up?" The manager requested. Naruto shakily walked up to the front, feeling like he was on death row. "Okay, players, choose your starting Vanguard and prepare to play!"

Yosuke glared when he saw the blond. "What are you doing here?" He asked, annoyed. The players shuffled their decks, and Yosuke won the right to go first.

"Stand up, Vanguard!" Both players called out. Naruto's Vanguard was Grassland Breeze, Sagramore, a young boy in armor that looked like a wolf **(Power: 6000)**. Yosuke's was Anatomy Beast, Gaizon, a purple alien with four arms **(Power: 5000)**.

Many stared in disbelief at Yosuke's choice of Vanguard. Rikuo voiced their thoughts. "That idiot chose a Heal Trigger as his Vanguard? This really will be a quick game."

_'Could he have some kind of plan involving it?'_ Naruto was panicky in his thoughts, and didn't know what to make of this move. Yosuke drew his card and started.

"I ride Wonder Boy! And I call Cheer Girl Tiara, Sonic Breaker, and another Wonder Boy to rear-guard!" Yosuke announced. In his front row were two identical men in rugby uniform, and behind the Vanguard was a red haired cheerleader, while a purple-skinned humanoid covered in spiky red armor was behind the rear-guard Wonder Boy **(Power: 8000) (Power: 8000) (Power: 5000) (Power: 5000)**.

Naruto's eyes widened at all the units, but others were not impressed. "Hey, idiot, you can't attack this turn, remember!" Rikuo insulted the black haired boy.

"I- I knew that!" Yosuke returned, sounding angry. "I'm done!"

"O-Okay," Naruto draws nervously. "I ride Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth! In addition, I call Player of the Holy Axe, Nimue, and Sleygal Dagger behind her!" The blond's Vanguard became a knight in red and gold, and was joined by a red haired woman with a strange hybrid of axe and trumpet, and a large dog with a knife **(Power: 8000) (Power: 7000) (Power: 7000)**.

"Ha, like your weak units will win against me!" Yosuke boasted.

"I attack with Nimue, boosted by Sleygal!" Naruto announced **(Power: 14000)**.

"I guard with... uh..." _'I can't guard!'_ Yosuke had used all his low level cards on the field already. He had no choice but to take a damage check. Juggernaut Maximum, not a trigger.

"Next, Gareth attacks! And I check for a drive trigger!" He flipped over the card, which was Fortune Bell. "Stand Trigger! I stand Nimue, and give her 5000 power! She attacks next!" Yosuke flipped over the cards, still no triggers.

"Whoa, Naruto's really on fire today! Three damage on his first turn?" Rikuo exclaimed. Rei snorted, getting a confused look from the bluenette.

Kokoro explained for him. "This one is because his opponent played down all his defensive cards instead of holding on to them. It's true that Naruto is playing well, but that other guy's blunders are a large factor in this game."

"I see what you mean," Rikuo set his eyes back on the game.

"I'll end my turn there," Naruto announced.

"Haha! Then prepare to be amazed as the awesome Yosuke unleashes his skillful attack!" The arrogant boy boasted, drawing a card. "I ride Lady Bomb, and use its incredible Counter Blast! Nimue won't stand next turn!" Yosuke flipped over two damage as the humanoid ladybug knocked Nimue over.

Naruto just tensed for what else was to come. Yosuke having only Grade 3 cards in his hand, moved straight to the battle phase. "The awesome Wonder Boy attacks your Vanguard!" The sportsman ran at the knight, followed by his spiked companion **(Power: 13000)**.

Naruto slammed a card on the table. "I guard with Fortune Bell!" A girl holding a large bell blocked the way of Yosuke's units **(Shield: 10000)**.

"Argh! You little..." Yosuke growled. "I attack with Lady Bomb and Cheer Girl, Tiara!" **(Power: 14000)**

"I don't guard," Naruto responded. Yosuke checked his drive trigger, getting the Critical Trigger, Shrapnel Scorpio. Naruto didn't get any triggers in his damage check.

The whisker-marked teen started his turn. "I ride Knight of Superior Skills, Beaumains! And call Sacred Guardian Beast, Nemean Lion and Precipice Whirlwind, Sagramore!" His vanguard became a dark skinned knight in red and gold armor, and an armored lion and young boy in black armor appeared as well **(Power: 10000) (Power: 8000) (Power: 6000)**.

"It's too bad he only gets two attacks since Nimue is at rest," Rikuo sighed.

"I swap Sleygal Dagger with Nimue, then I attack with Nemean Lion, supported by Sagramore!" The blond declared **(Power: 14000)**.

"Shrapnel Scorpio guards!" Yosuke countered, holding up the card **(Shield: 10000)**.

"Beaumains attacks Lady Bomb!" Naruto decides, and checks his drive trigger, smiling as he gets the card he hoped for.

"I stand and draw!" Yosuke cries. "I ride Enigman Cyclone!" A green humanoid appears to replace the ladybug woman **(Power: 10000)**. "I call Electro-star Combination, Cosmogreat!" Also appearing is a giant blue robot** (Power: 10000)**.

Yosuke smirks as he explains his plan. "When Cosmogreat is called, his Counter Blast lets me give one other Dimension Police 4000 power!" He flips over his two unflipped damage. "All of it to my Vanguard! And he'll be attacking with help from Tiara!" **(Power: 19000)**

"Nemean Lion's Special Intercept! When a Gold Paladin is my Vanguard, his shield increases by 5000!" **(Shield: 10000)**

Yosuke glared at the card. _'I just need a trigger...'_ He checked his first, and didn't get one. He checked his second, and exclaimed in joy. "Critical Trigger! Shrapnel Scorpio! Yes!"

"Hold up just a moment," Surprisingly, the manager intervened. "You don't have any Megacolony units on your field. You need a unit of the same clan as your trigger for the effect to activate."

Yosuke gaped. "Y- You mean... You mean it doesn't work?!"

"Yes. So then, I believe your attack fails," The manager confirms.

"Grr! I'll win without triggers then! I attack with Cosmogreat, then with Wonder Boy!" **(Power: 10000) (Power: 13000)**

After Naruto checked for his damage triggers, he started his turn. "Stand and draw! I ride..." Rikuo gasped and looked excited.

"He's going to use it!" He exclaimed.

"The warrior of light that strips away the darkness! Soul Zeta – Synchro Edge!" The blond finished, the number 07 appearing in his eye as the white and gold knight descended **(Power: 10000)**.

"Ah! Not that card!" Yosuke exclaimed in shock.

"Then I call Sleygal Double Edge and Charjgal!" A wolf with a double ended sword in its mouth and one with gold armor appeared **(Power: 10000) (Power: 6000)**. "Then, I activate Synchro Edge's Counter Blast! Plus 2000 power per Gold Paladin rear-guard! A total of 10000 more power! Then I'll activate both Sleygal's Counter Blasts! Plus 2000 power each!" The three began to glow **(Power: 20000) (Power: 12000) (Power: 9000)**. "And they'll be supported by the back row!" Glowing energy from Sagramore, Charjgal and Nimue flowed into the front row **(Power: 26000) (Power: 18000) (Power: 16000)**. "Now Double Edge attacks!"

"I guard with Shrapnel Scorpio!" Yosuke responded **(Shield: 10000)**.

"Next, Dagger!" Naruto announced.

"Karma Queen and Speed Star guard!" The bully counters, using up the rest of his hand **(Shield: 10000)**.

"Go, Synchro Edge! Final attack!" Naruto declares.

"You'll only deal one damage!" Yosuke states.

"Synchro Edge gains 5000 power and 1 critical when attacking a unit of a different race!" Naruto reminds him.

"N- No! But, I just need one Heal Trigger!" Yosuke checks his two cards. Juggernaut Maximum and Hell Spider. Neither were triggers.

"He won!" Rikuo exclaims happily. Rei smirks and makes a comment.

"You act like you thought he wouldn't," Rikuo looked affronted.

"Geez, can't a guy be happy?" He complained dramatically.

"Grr! I'll be back!" Yosuke yells, running from the shop. Naruto just laughs.

"That was a very good game," The manager compliments, and offers his hand. "I'm Shō. It's a pleasure."

Naruto shakes his hand. "I'm Naruto."

"I look forward to seeing you play again," Shō waves as he walks back over to the counter.

"That was a great match, Naruto! Even Neko-sempai thinks so!" Kokoro tells him, holding a black cat in her arms.

"... Neko-sempai?" The blond asks. Kokoro shows him the cat.

"Here he is. Say hi, Neko-sempai!" The cat ignores her and goes to sleep. "Hey, don't be lazy!"

Naruto laughs. He wouldn't trade moments like these, even for the world.

**Ride 2, End**


	4. Yellow Meets Orange

_Prologue: Devourlord_

Today really wasn't a good day for typical Chunin academy teacher, Umino Iruka. Well, actually, it was currently just after two AM, so maybe that wasn't the best phrase. Perhaps... The last twenty-four hours hadn't been good for Iruka. Yes, that sounded much better.

The reason for this simple fact was twofold. First, he'd been forced to fail his favourite student, Uzumaki Naruto, due to the fact that said boy hadn't been able to perform the basic Clone Jutsu that was required to pass. Secondly, he'd just been told by his assistant Mizuki that Naruto had stolen the Forbidden Scroll, which was the reason he was even up at this late hour. It was true that without a special pass from the Shinobi Council, he would be dropped from the ninja program, as this was his third time failing the Genin test, but stealing the Forbidden Scroll was tantamount to treason! Why had Naruto done it? The possible answers to this question worried Iruka greatly, and with them in mind, he sped up his pace.

He finally found Naruto, collapsed on the ground in a forest clearing with the Forbidden Scroll not far away. However, of greater concern was the pitch black sword embedded in the ground next to the blond boy.

"Hrgh..." Naruto made a groaning sound as he came back to consciousness. He sat up and looked at the black sword.

"Naruto! I finally found you!" Iruka yelled at the boy as he jumped down in front of him, causing Naruto to blink.

"Sensei? What are you doing here?" The whisker-marked boy asked confusedly.

Before Iruka could answer, another person entered the area, standing on a tree branch above them. Mizuki twirled a giant shuriken in his hand, looking at Iruka with badly suppressed murderous intent. "Well, I never expected that anyone would reach this place before me. You always were too smart for your own good, Iruka," He commented mildly.

"What the hell is going on, Mizuki?!" Iruka shouted at him, his hand subtly moving towards his kunai pouch.

"Just a little stealing of a priceless treasure to give to Orochimaru-sama!" Mizuki declared with glee. "And you're... In the way!" The large shuriken was thrown with precision.

Iruka dived away, but realized all too late that the target wasn't him, but Naruto. Just as it looked the boy would be hit, something unexpected happened.

The blond boy grabbed the black blade by the handle, and in a single, smooth motion, deflected the shuriken with it. _"As if such a pathetic attempt at murder could kill an infant, let alone your intended target. Rather ambitious of you, you sad waste of flesh,"_ A female's voice spoke out, though no one seemed to move their mouth. And, even stranger, it seemed to come from Naruto.

* * *

In order to understand the events that take place from then on, we must turn back the clock, to the point when Naruto first reached that same clearing. He had just opened the Forbidden Scroll, determined to learn one of the forbidden techniques stored inside. No way would he lose his chance to become a ninja. No way!

He checked the first technique written in there. _'Shadow Clone Jutsu?'_ In another version of this universe, Naruto would spend hours practising this jutsu. In others, he would learn the next jutsu the scroll had to offer. He would then go on to make this his iconic technique. This... Is not one of those universes. _'I'm no good at clones. Let's see what else this thing has.'_

He passed over the next few jutsu without much thought, until he came to a section that had no jutsu written on it, but instead had a weird-looking symbol on it. Any somewhat experienced ninja could tell you that it was a containment seal, but Naruto was far from experienced, nor was he a ninja, so it should be no surprise that he was clueless as to its' purpose. Dismissing it as useless, he rolled it out further, to the next section, detailing a new jutsu. However, his hand laid at rest on the seal. Now, for those of you who aren't aware, Naruto has far more chakra than the average person his age, and very low control. So, it shouldn't be too surprising that bits may... slip out, on occasion. And that is exactly what happened at this moment. However, the really important part, isn't that it left his body, but rather, where it went. In this case, it went right into the seal that Naruto had passed over. The seal that just so happened to break when chakra was applied. It should be obvious where this is going by now.

Naruto was startled as a burst of smoke came from the scroll. He blinked in confusion as the smoke faded, because a sword, black as night, was there when it clearly hadn't been before. He tentatively reached out, and his hand closed around the sword, the blond lifting it up to get a better look at it. Suddenly, dark shadows surrounded the sword, bursting outwards and knocking the boy unconscious.

* * *

Inside the mind of the young Naruto, an interesting encounter is about to take place.

"**Oho! Who dares enter my domain?"** Behind a large cage, a pair of ominous red eyes and a massive set of sharp teeth leaked malicious intent. The young orange haired woman standing in front of said cage was unfazed by the dark aura.

"_This is to be my body. You're in the way,"_ The woman spoke uninterestedly. The beast growled in fury.

"**Foolish mortal wretch! Do you have any idea just whom you speak to in that disrespectful tone?! I am the mighty Kyuubi no Kitsune! Greatest of the Bijuu! Monster of nightmares! Vanguard of Destruction!"** The beast might have spoken more, if not for the unimaginable pressure suddenly forced upon it.

_"Who cares?"_ The orange haired woman questioned. _"I am the Devourlord, and my power is far beyond your comprehension."_

The Kyuubi was silent, struggling just to focus with the force of this woman's anger aimed at it.

The Devourlord put a finger to her chin, with a contemplative look on her face. It she didn't have such a sinister look and feel to her, it would have actually been rather cute. _"You look pretty tasty... I'm hungry. I'll eat you."_ She informed the now terrified beast.

"**Huh? No, wait! C'mon, we both stand to gain from an alliance, don't we? What do you say?"** The Kyuubi desperately tried to bargain its' way out of this fate. Unfortunately for it, the Devourlord would have none of it.

"_Nope. Now, it's snack time..."_ Only the Kyuubi's screams could be heard, until it was silenced. Then only a soft crunching sound could be heard in the eerie prison the greatest Bijuu met its' end.

* * *

"W- Where am I?" Naruto asked himself as he came to. He appeared to be inside an oversized sewer of some sort.

_"Oh, hey, kid, you're awake,"_ A female with orange hair stood above him. She had orange eyes and looked to be about 17. She had a menacing smile on her face. _"Here's the deal. I've been trapped in that sword for a long time. So, I'm going to take your body, and I'm going to break this world. Okay?"_

"..." Naruto didn't respond, still getting his bearings.

_"Silence means consent! New body, here I come!"_ She cheered excitedly. Oh, how she couldn't wait to start the bloodbath!

Naruto had finally gotten up. He looked at her blankly. "No." The woman froze.

_"You can't say no! It doesn't work like that!"_ She protested vehemently.

"..." Naruto continued staring at her, his expression not changing.

_"Grr... Fine. Let's make a deal! I'll live in your body, and give you power beyond your wildest dreams. But the more of my power you use, the more your control of your body you lose. When you use too much of my power, your body will become mine!"_ She declared, pointing at him.

"... Fine," The blond agreed.

_"I won't take no for an- Wait, did you just agree?"_ She blinked owlishly. The blond nodded. _"Alright, kid, you've now officially made a contract with the Devourlord! To celebrate this occasion, let's kick some ass! Time for you to wake up."_

With that decision, the future of the world would be forever changed. Starting with one ex-demon container. So, with this, let's go back to the present, and see what happens next.

* * *

"Where the hell is that voice coming from?" Mizuki asked, looking around in a panic. Iruka too, was looking around, trying to spot the mystery person. Naruto, recognizing the voice as belonging to the Devourlord, stared at the black sword that had come from the Forbidden Scroll.

_"Hey, kid,"_ The woman spoke up, drawing the attention of the two Chunin to Naruto. _"How about I give you a tiny taste of my power? Not enough to really lose any control, just so you know what's available, if only you ask,"_ Her voice gained a darkly seductive tone at the end.

"Fine by me," Naruto replied flatly, gripping the black sword in both hands.

_"I have the perfect test subject too. See that shameful waste of flesh over there? The one that tried to kill us? Yeah, him. Let's make him suffer,"_ Horror shone in the eyes of both Chunin, as Naruto nodded in silent agreement.

Naruto was shrouded in an aura of black shadows. He lacked an expression on his face, instead looking totally blank, but his eyes shone with power and hatred. Mizuki desperately threw his remaining large shuriken an the whisker-marked blond. Said blond's response? He used the Forbidden Scroll as a shield. Yeah, that Forbidden Scroll. The priceless artifact containing all of Konohagakure's secret techniques and objects. It's gonna come back to bite him.

"W- Wait! Haven't you ever wondered why everyone in the village hates you?" Mizuki questioned, trying to save his own skin.

"No! Mizuki, you can't! It's forbidden!" Iruka shouted at the traitor.

"See? They don't want you to know! Aren't you even a little bit curious?" Mizuki prodded, a manic grin on his face.

_"Kid, we should just kill him,"_ The Devourlord spoke her mind, causing fear to show in Mizuki's eyes. But Naruto wasn't moving. _"... Fine. But don't blame me if you don't like what you hear. Hey, meatbag! Tell us the secret, and maybe we won't kill you!"_

"The reason is... That you, Naruto, are the evil Kyuubi no Kitsune, that nearly destroyed our village of Konohagakure! That's why all the adults tell their kids to stay away! Why, even Iruka hates you! After all, you're the one who killed his parents!" Mizuki announced, shocking Naruto. However, our resident Devourlord saw some holes in this story, and decided to point them out.

_"Hang on, there was some thing calling itself Kyuubi in the kid's body before I got here. I already ate it though, so we ain't got anything to worry about. Let's take this loser out, Kid,"_ Both Iruka and Mizuki's eyes widened. This person... ate the Kyuubi? Then, the last part of her words caught up in Mizuki's brain.

"You said you would let me live!" He screamed in shock. Naruto gave him a cold stare and replied.

"... We only said maybe," He pointed out. Mizuki, in desperation, launched himself at the ex-demon vessel, a kunai in hand to block the black sword in Naruto's possession. However, he was in for a surprise when the sword cut through the knife as though it were butter, taking his right arm in the same swing, spraying blood across the clearing.

Mizuki collapsed in a pitiful heap, clutching his new stump and whimpering. _"Haha! Just look at him! Crying like a little bitch!... Man, this is just sad. Let's make him really scream!"_

Naruto nodded, raising the sword above his head, preparing to finish off the pathetic excuse of a man, when all of a sudden, a new voice echoed out of him, much like the Devourlord. _"*Wait!*"_

"Wha-?" Startled, Naruto stopped, looking at himself in confusion. "Who?..."

"_*If you kill him now, what good will it do you? Please, consider what you're about to do!*"_ The voice pleaded with him.

The Devourlord decided to speak up. _"C'mon, kid, you're not seriously gonna stop now, are you?"_ Naruto hesitated, and slowly lowered the black sword until he was holding it in his right hand, at his side. _"... You can't be serious?! This is bullshit!"_

"_*That's just the way things are,*"_ The other female voice commented.

At that moment, several ANBU, the ninja handpicked for certain important jobs, arrived on the scene. One of them, wearing a mask resembling a Bull, spoke up. "Uzumaki Naruto, Umino Iruka, please, come with me. Cat, Hawk, please handle the rest," Bull then proceeded to take them with him to the Hokage's Office.

* * *

Hokage was the title given to the leader of Konohagakure. It was only given to the ninja who was strong, wise and willing to do anything for the sake of their people. Typically, you wouldn't expect an old man to hold the title, would you? Well, Sarutobi Hiruzen hadn't expected to be Hokage at his age, either. After all, he'd retired from the position and been replaced by the Yondaime Hokage. But, the untimely death of the Yondaime had forced him out of retirement, to take up the position of Sandaime Hokage once more. Unfortunately, even that position hadn't been able to let him give much help to young Naruto. The old man wondered if that was why this had happened. His heart was weighed down with guilt as he looked at the solemn blond boy standing before him, still holding onto the black sword that had come from the Forbidden Scroll.

But, he didn't have much choice here. "You do understand, I assume, that the thievery of the Forbidden Scroll is a grave crime?" He asked the boy, who nodded. Others were not so quiet in response.

_"Who cares? If the kid could steal it, then you should just blame yourselves,"_ The Devourlord spoke up.

"Miss... Devourlord, was it? That scroll contains all of our most dangerous techniques and objects. Not only did Naruto steal it, but he also irreparably damaged it. I cannot just let it go," Sarutobi explained patiently.

"_*Um... You know, I think she may have a point. Shouldn't something that valuable be guarded too well for someone who failed your tests to take? If Blondie could get it, maybe you should be focusing on your security?*"_ The voice that stopped Naruto spoke up.

Ignoring Naruto's quiet complaints at being called Blondie, Sarutobi thought about what had been said. "Well, perhaps I should think on this a bit further. I'll have made a decision regarding this by the end of the academy's break. Come back then," Recognizing the dismissal, Naruto left the room.

Once they were outside, the voice Naruto still had no name to call asked a question. _"*How long until we have to go back?*"_

"Four days," Naruto responded blandly, beginning the trek back to his apartment. It seemed the sun would be rising soon, but he was so damn tired. He'd just sleep anyway.

"_*Hey, did I introduce myself? Probably not. I'm Danette! Nice to meet ya,*"_ She was a little too happy for someone without a body, Naruto decided. And her perkiness was more than a little annoying at this hour.

The rest of the trip was made in relative silence, Danette doing the most of the talking, with Naruto occasionally responding. Naruto found it a little odd that the Devourlord hadn't spoken in a while, but chose not to say anything to her.

"_*Your place sucks,*" _Danette spoke without hesitation when she saw the nearly unlivable apartment that Naruto ate and slept in. There was rotting wood, mould, missing floorboards, holes in walls, the only chair had a leg that had already broken and been shoddily fixed, and there wasn't even a table.

"Maybe so, but it's still home," Naruto tiredly replied, right before collapsing on his bed, asleep in seconds.

"_*To call __**this**__ home... You haven't had it easy, have you?*" _Danette mused. There was, of course, no reply. But, a certain other resident of Naruto's body heard those words as well. And they troubled her.

* * *

"_Kid, wake up! Wake up!"_

Naruto groaned, unable to sleep any longer due to the racket his orange haired tenant was making. He was also vaguely aware of a ringing sound coming from his left.

_"Kid, make that thing shut the hell up!"_ The Devourlord demanded angrily. Naruto sleepily complied, turning the alarm clock off.

The blond regretfully started his day, getting dressed in a white top and black pants. He would have worn his horribly orange jumpsuit, but when he went to put it on, the Devourlord was not amused, to put it lightly. More accurately, she said that if she ever caught him even thinking of wearing it again, she'd castrate him slowly. Naruto wisely decided to forgo the jumpsuit.

He had a minor problem with his new sword, as he had no sheath. But, following Danette's suggestion (she woke up midway through breakfast), he used some of his older clothes to create a strap to tie it to his back (It also wrapped around the blade of the black sword). It wasn't a permanent solution, but it'd do for now. Afterwards, there was a short argument on what to do that day. The Devourlord's idea (kill everything) had been immediately shot down, and after some yelling, a compromise was reached. First, Naruto would show his new friends (was it okay to call them friends yet? He wasn't sure) around the village, then afterwards, he would be learning how to use a sword, as he had never used one prior to the previous night.

He started by showing them Ichiraku Ramen, the only restaurant that would serve Naruto without copious complaints. The orange haired Devourlord tuned out the Kid and the Cow Woman to make some some mental notes of her host.

One, only that old geezer, the pineapple scarface, and the noodle makers seemed to like him. Everyone else avoided him like the plague. Examples included immediately looking away upon catching sight of him, and walking on the other side of the street just to keep distance from him.

Two, the Kid was a pushover. He barely ever refused anyone anything or disagreed with them, and he didn't have many opinions of his own. When asked what he thought of a type of food, he instead responded with what the old geezer had said about it. The woman was torn between being delighted that getting control of her future body would be easy, and disgusted that someone associated with her was so weak.

She was so wrapped in her own thoughts that she didn't immediately respond when the blond called for her. "Um... Devourlord-san? Are you there? Devourlord?" He sighed in disappointment. "I guess you got bored from all my talking. I'm sorry."

He had such a pitiful look on his face, like a child whose pet dog had just died. The Devourlord couldn't actually see his face, but she could feel the sheer sadness radiating. She experienced this strange, heavy feeling, and felt a desperate need to make him happy again. The Devourlord didn't know it then, but that was the first time she experienced guilt.

_"Ah! No! I'm listening! I'm here! You don't need to be sorry!"_ She blurted out, hoping that the heavy feeling would go away. To her relief, the whiskered boy's sadness instantly vanished, replaced with an equally strange but much more pleasant warmth. Knowing this was because of her, the mental construct that acted like a body for the Devourlord gained a very faint blush, though only Danette was aware of this.

"Really? You don't hate me?" Naruto asked, though he was somewhat afraid of the answer. It was a hard question for the Devourlord to answer. She was so used to hating pretty much everything. For the longest time, a fire blazed furiously, lashing out at all the world for the burden that had been placed upon her as though it were natural. She had forgotten what it had felt like to have feelings such as happiness or even contentedness. Ever since **that day** she had wanted to destroy everything. Wipe out all those smiles, all that happiness. But, confronted with someone who cared so much about her opinion of him, **hers**, could she bring herself to hate him? Her answer flowed easily.

_"... No, I don't hate you."_

Five simple words. How could anyone have known that they'd have so much impact on the fate of Prodesto?

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen was getting old. It was a simple fact. Many ninja wouldn't live to be even half as old as him. He would have to step down soon. But, while he was still Hokage, he was determined to right all the mistakes he could. That was why he intended to let Naruto off the charges of stealing the Forbidden Scroll.

Even though he had greatly damaged it. Well, there hadn't been much of value lost anyway, and most of the stuff in there would never see the light of day again, so the losses were minimal. As long as there were no other charges pressed against the blond boy, the whole incident would blow over. Everything would be fine.

He should have known not to tempt fate.

* * *

_"Well, you have natural talent, at least. You already improved a lot from when you started. At least you aren't going to cut yourself with the sword instead of your enemy now,"_ The Devourlord remarked as Naruto collapsed into bed that night.

"Yeah. I think I'm gonna sleep now. Goodnight, you two," Naruto dropped straight into sleep after that. He'd had a rough two days. It was only natural. He was still human, after all, despite his various tenant that had taken residence in his body at one point or another.

"_*Listen... We need to talk,*" _Danette stated to the Devourlord, her green haired mental body staring her down.

The orange haired woman nodded in reply. _"About N- about the Kid,"_ She hastily corrected herself. Danette also nodded in reply.

"_*About Naruto. And about what we're going to do in the future.*"_

* * *

Beneath the earth of the Land of Fire, a great power began to stir. It was not yet ready to awaken, but soon. Soon, it could continue its' blessed quest to baptize this world in death.

Yes, just a little longer, the World Eater, Ekibiogami, thought as it continued to absorb energy through its' cursed roots. Soon, this world would understand truth.


End file.
